ft. 


R4C2. 
1846 


NRLF 


8 

I 


(P 


A    REPLY 


GEN,  JOSEPH  REED'S  REMARKS 


ON  A  LATE   PUBLICATION  IN  TBB 


INDEPENDENT   GAZETTEER 


W1TU  SOME  OBSERVATIONS  ON  HIS 


ADDRESS  TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


BY  GENERAL  JOHN ,  CADWALADER. 


WITH  THE  LETTERS  OF 

Gen,  George  Washington,  Gen.  Alexander  Hamilton,  Major  David  Lennox, 
Dr,  Benjamin  Rush,  Gen.  P.  Dickinson,  Gen.  Henry  Laureiis  and  others. 


PHILADELPHIA : 

PRINTED    AND   SOLD  BT   T.   BBADFORO, 

In  Front  Street,  the  fourth  Door  below  the  CofFee-House. 

MD  CCLXXXIII. 


A    EEPLY 


TO 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  REED'S  REMARKS 


ON  A  LATE  PUBLICATION  IN  THE 


INDEPENDENT   GAZETTEER 


WITH  SOMB  OBSERVATIONS  ON  HIS 


ADDRESS  TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA, 


PHILADELPHIA  : 

PRINTED   AND  SOLD  BY  T.   BRADFORD, 

In  Front  Street,  the  fourth  Door  below  the  Coffee-House, 

MDCCLXXXIII, 


E  3  < 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THIS  REPUBLICATION. 


A  FEW  years  since,  a  writer,  over  the  signature  of  "  Valley 
Forge,"  published  in  an  evening  paper  of  Philadelphia,  called  the 
"Evening  Journal,"  and  put  forth  certain  statements  connected 
with  our  revolutionary  history,  which  caused  a  great  excitement, 
and  led  to  a  challenge  of  an  interview  with  the  author,  by  the  de 
scendants  of  a  person,  whose  character  was  considered  as  involved 
in  doubt,  as  to  his  being  a  patriot  of  1776.  The  party  challenged 
failed  to  attend  the  proposed  meeting,  and  this  pamphlet  will  give  a 
clue  to  the  whole  writings  of  "  Valley  Forge,"  and  justify  com 
pletely  the  course  pursued  by  the  editor  of  the  "  Evening  Jour 
nal"  who  is  not  now  of  this  world,  and  of  course  a  matter  imma 
terial  perhaps  to  his  friends  and  relatives. 

The  letters  of  Major  Lennox  and  P.  Dickinson  refer  to  a  person 
whose  name  is  not  mentioned,  who  was  included  in  the  application 
to  Count  Donop  for  a  protection.  There  certainly  must  be  in  the 
possession  of  some  of  the  descendants  of  revolutionary  families, 
evidence  to  show  who  this  person  was ;  and  it  may  yet  be  pro 
duced,  to  do  justice  to  the  memory  of  the  men  who  figured  in  those 
times. 

Trenton,  December  26th,  1846. 


TO    THE    PUBLIC. 


WHEN  an  appea]  is  made  to  the  public  by  a  person  who  has  interested 
himself  in  the  affairs  of  America  from  the  beginning  of  the  present  revo 
lution,  he  has  a  claim  to  their  attention,  with  respect  to  transactions  that 
reflect  either  upon  his  political  conduct  or  principles  as  a  patriot. 

I  wish,  most  sincerely,  that  all  prejudices  in  favor  or  against  General 
Reed  or  myself,  may  be  laid  aside  on  the  present  occasion,  and  that  truth 
and  justice  may  influence  the  determination  of  the  public. 

The  world  is  now  in  possession  of  General  Reed's  address  to  me,  re 
lating  to  a  conversation  I  had  with  him  at  Bristol  in  the  winter  of  1776, 
and  as  it  contains  the  grossest  reflections  upon  my  character,  as  a  man 
of  veracity  and  a  patriot,  it  is  incumbent  on  me  to  reply. 

Mankind  have  been  much  the  same,  in  every  age,  with  respect  to  their 
conduct  in  political  life.  Their  minds  have  been  inflamed  by  the  same 
passions,  prejudices  and  resentments,  and  parties  have  been  supported  by 
complaints  and  representations,  which  naturally  grow  into  invective  and 
personal  abuse. 

From  these  principles,  General  Reed  has  deduced  those  arguments 
and  conclusions,  which  he  vainly  affects  to  think  will  justify  him  in  as 
serting,  that  my  conduct  has  been  influenced  by  motives  of  hatred,  re 
sentment,  and  disappointed  ambition.  But  whsn  it  shall  appear,  from  the 
testimony  I  have  inserted  in  the  following  sheets,  that  the  conversation  al 
luded  to  was  spoken  of  by  me  in  confidence,  at  a  time  when  he  asserts  that 
all  former  personal  dislike  was  removed,  and  that "  we  united  in  confidence 
and  danger  at  the  battle  of  Monmouth ;"  at  a  time,  too,  when  he  admits, 
that  "  no  party  or  prejudices  existed,  (at  least  as  to  him,")  the  premises 
from  which  he  has  drawn  his  conclusions  must  be  removed,  and  conse 
quently  his  arguments  fall  with  them. 

If  my  bare  affirmative  against  his  negative  was  the  onlf  foundation  on 
which  the  public  were  to  found  their  judgment,  our  several  characters, 
in  the  article  of  veracity,  would  be  fairly  weighed  by  candour,  and  a  ver 
dict  given  in  favor  of  the  preponderating  scale.  If.  then,  I  had  hazarded 
an  assertion,  without  other  (the  most  respectable)  testimony  to  support 
it,  the  consciousness  of  my  own  integrity  would  have  suppressed  any  fears 
with  respect  to  the  public  opinion. 

The  many  and  hasty  movements  of  my  family  during  the  present  con 
test,  have  displaced  several  valuable  papers  relating  to  roperty  as  well 
as  military  affairs.  I  do  not,  however,  despair  of  yet  finding  important 
ones  relating  to  this  matter,  that  may  some  time  hence  be  published. 
But  what  need  is  there  of  more  than  I  shall  here  adduce  ;  since  every 
prejudiced  mind  must  feel  (if  not  acknowledge)  the  testimony  too  re 
spectable  and  powerful  to  admit  of  apology  or  reply.  Testimony,  too, 


0 

ebtained,  (in  many  instances,)  from  persons  to  whom  1  "am  scarcely 
known, — persons  residing  in  other  states,  who  cannot  be  supposed  to  be 
the  particular  enemies  of  General  Reed,  or  in  any  way  connected  with 
the  politics  of  Pennsylvania. 

Many  other  certificates,  supporting  and  confirming  those  I  shall  here 
offer  to  the  public  are  omitted,  as  it  is  thought  they  will  swell  the  publi 
cation  to  an  unnecessary  size ;  and  affidavits  may,  if  required,  be  obtained 
to  all  the  certificates  which  appear  in  this  pamphlet. 


As  the  publication  signed  'Brutus,'  addressed  to  General  Reed,  con 
taining  certain  queries,  is  referred  to,  it  is  thought  necessary  to  reprint  it. 

To  the  Printer  of  the  Independent  Gazetteer. 

SIR, — It  is  much  to  the  honor  of  America,  that  in  the  present  revolu 
tion,  there  have  not  been  many  instances  of  defection  among  officers  of 
rank  in  the  Continental  army.  In  Oliver  Cromwell's  time,  we  fre 
quently  see  a  general  fighting  one  day  for  the  King,  another  for  the  Par 
liament  ;  so  unstable  and  wavering  were  the  opinion  of  those  republicans. 

The  corruption  of  the  times  is  now  become  a  universal  complaint,  and 
one  would  be  almost  tempted  to  believe,  that  the  former  days  were  better 
than  these  ;  that  our  forefathers  were  possessed  of  greater  moral  rectitude 
than  the  present  generation,  did  not  history  and  experience  convince  us 
of  the  contrary.  There  is,  however,  one  great  evil  peculiar  to  this  age, 
— that  of  assuming  the  credit  of  being  endowed  with  virtues  to  which 
we  are  perfect  strangers.  Cunning  address  and  eloquence  have  often 
misled  the  honest  but  too  credulous  multitude,  and  they  have  been  taught 
to  consider  many  a  man  as  a  patriot  and  a  hero,  \vhose  real  character 
was  marked  with  nothing  but  deceit  and  treachery  to  his  country.  It  is 
also  amazing,  that  such  men  should  meet  with  the  highest  success,  and 
bear  their  blushing  honors  thick  upon  them,  whilst  modest  merit  and  true 
patriotism  could  neither  gain  the  suffrages  of  the  people,  nor  the  appro 
bation  of  those  who  held  the  reins  of  government. 

The  reflections  I  am  now  making  have,  in  a  striking  manner,  been 
verified  in  this  state.  I  should  be  extremely  sorry  to  accuse  without  a 
just  foundation,  or  to  adduce  a  charge,  were  I  not  convinced  that  it  is  of 
the  utmost  importance  that  the  public, — the  people  at  large, — should  be 
enabled  to  form  a  right  opinion  of  such  men,  who  have  been  honored,  or 
may  be  honored  with  iheir  suffrages,  and  thereby  exalted  to  places  of  the 
highest  trust  and  confidence. 

Impressed  with  this  idea,  and  with  a  design  to  elucidate  such  charac 
ters,  1  shall  take  the  liberty  to  propose  to  the  public  the  following  queries : 

1.  Was  not  General  R— <j,  in  December,  1776,  (then  A 1  G 1 

of  the  Continental  army,)  sent  by  General  Washington  to  the  command 
ing  officer  at  Bristol,  with  orders  relative  to  a  general  attack  intended  to 
be  made  on  the  enemy's  post  at  Trenton,  and  those  below,  on  the  25th, 
at  night! 

2.  Two  or  three  days  before  the  intended  attack,  did  not  General  R — d 
say,  in  conversation  with  the  said  commanding  officer  at  his  quarters, 


that  our  affairs  looked  very  desperate,  and  that  we  were  only  making  a 
sacrifice  of  ourselves? 

3.  Did  he  not  also  say,  that  the  time  of  General  Howe's  proclamation, 
offering  pardon  and  protection  to  persons  who  should  come  in  before  the 
1st  of  January,  1777,  was  nearly  expired,  and  that  Galloway,  the  Aliens, 
and  others,  had  gone  over,  and  availed  themselves  of  the  pardon  and  pro 
tection  offered  by  the  said  proclamation  ? 

4.  Did  not  he,  General  R — d,  at  the  same  time  say,  that  he  had  a 
family,  and  ought  to  take  care  of  them  ;  and  that  he  did  not  understand 
following  the  wretched  remains  of  a  broken  army  '? 

5.  Did  he  not  likewise  say  to  the  said  commanding  officer,  that  his 
brother,  (then  a  colonel  or  lieutenant-colonel  of  militia,)  was  at  Burling 
ton  with  his  family,  and  that  he  had  advised  him  to  remain  there,  and  if 
the  enemy  took  possession  of  the  town,  to  take  a  protection  and  swear 
allegiance  ? 

It  is  well  for  America,  that  very  few  general  officers  have  rea 
soned  in  this  manner ;  if  they  had,  General  Howe  would  have  made  an 
easy  conquest  of  the  United  States.  And  it  is  very  obvious,  that  officers 
of  high  rank,  with  such  sentiments,  can  have  no  just  pretensions  to  pa 
triotism  or  public  virtue,  and  can  by  no  means  be  worthy  of  any  post  of 
honor  or  place  of  trust,  where  the  liberties  and  interest  of  the  people  are 
immediately  concerned.  BRUTUS. 

Philadelphia,  September  3,  1782. 


TO  GENERAL  JOSEPH  REED. 

In  the  first  part  of  your  late  publication,  which  is  no  less  an  invective 
against  mo,  than  it  is  a  defence  of  yourself,  you  have,  with  sufficient  art, 
insisted  on  my  remarkably  contentious,  factious,*  and  jealous  spirit,  which 
suffers  no  man,  undisturbed,  to  enjoy  his  well-earned  fame  ;  a  circum 
stance  in  my  character  you  expected  to  derive  considerable  benefit  from 
in  the  controversy  between  us,  For  this  point  being  once  gained,  every 
suggestion,  every  article  of  charge  against  you,  which  has  its  foundation 
and  support  in  me,  would  naturally  be  referred  to  those  fierce  and  ma 
lignant  passions  you  have  so  unsparingly  bestowed  on  me,  and  no  longer 
rest  upon  the  general  credit  and  reputation  I  trust  I  have  acquired  and 
maintained.  But  as  I  cannot,  without  injustice  to  myselfj  make  this  con 
cession  to  you,  I  must  declare  my  general  tenor  of  conduct  to  have  been 
far  otherwise, — that  in  my  private  life  I  have  been  at  peace  and  harmony 
with  all  mankind  ;  and  in  my  public,  at  enmity  only  with  such  public 
men  as  have  disgraced  their  country  by  their  vices  or  injured  it  by  their 
crimes. 

*  Here  the  following  anecdote  will  afford  an  occasion  of  recriminating. 
When  Mr.  Reed  was  proposed  as  a  Brigadier  in  the  army,  Mr.  John  Adams, 
now  our  minister  in  Holland,  openly  objected,  in  Congress,  to  his  appoint 
ment,  saying  he  was  of  a  factious  spirit,  and  had  been  notoriously  instrumental 
in  fomenting  discords  between  the  troops  of  the  different  States. 


8 

Wherein  until  the  present,  except  in  a  single  instance,  have  I  drawn 
the  public  attention,  by  attacks  upon  the  character  of  any  man  ;  and  that 
instance,  an  impostor,  like  yourself,  who  had  got  into  a  seat  of  honor. 
In  this,  it  was  virtue  to  beeome  his  accuser. 

If  you  rely  upon  your  instance,  as  affording  a  proof  of  my  eagerness 
for  controversy,  it  will  not  answer  your  purpose.  I  have  not  brought  you 
lo  the  public  bar ;  for,  whatever  was  the  amount  of  your  offences,  I  nei 
ther  urged  nor  wished  a  public  inquiry;  another  has  brought  you  there, 
and  I  appear  only  as  a  witness  against  you,  challenged  and  defied  by 
yourself. 

This  being  premised,  I  shall  enter  upon  my  subject,  and  reply  to  such 
parts  of  your  pamphlet  as  respect  me,  and  therefore  specially  concern  me 
to  notice. 

Your  remarks,  you  say,  are  with  propriety  addressed  to  me  ;  because, 
though  not  the  actual  author,  it  is  to  me  you  are  reallyx  indebted  for  the 
insidious  attempt  on  your  reputation. 

That  the  public  may  have  the  most  authentic  proofs  of  the  manner  in 
which  I  have  been  involved  in  this  controversy,  I  think  it  necessary  here 
to  insert  the  original  letters  that  passed  in  the  course  of  our  correspond 
ence,  last  fall,  on  this  subject. 

SIR, — I  have,  for  a  long  time,  treated  the  anonymous  abuse  which  dis 
graces  our  public  papers  with  the  contempt  it  deserves.  But  in  Oswald's 
paper,  of  last  Saturday,  are  a  set  of  queries,  signed  Brutus,  in  which  the 
author,  not  daring  to  make  an  open  assertion,  has  insinuated,  that  in  1776 
I  meditated  a  desertion  to  the  enemy.  Though  my  soul  rises  with  indig 
nation  at  the  infamous  slander,  [  should  treat  it  with  scorn,  if  it  did  not 
seem  to  deserve  some  credit  from  a  reference  to  you.  Prejudiced,  as  I 
know  you  are,  I  should  be  sorry  to  suppose  you  capable  of  propagating 
such  a  sentiment,  or  decline  the  opportunity  of  doing  justice  to  my  cha 
racter  and  in  some  degree  your  own.  And  this  for  two  reasons ;  first, 
the  gross  falsehood  of  the  insinuation  ;  and,  secondly,  to  preserve  a  con 
sistency  in  your  own  character,  which  must  suffer  from  your  placing  such 
confidence  in  me,  with  respect  to  the  military  operations  of  that  period, 
and  permitting  General  Washington  to  do  the  same,  after  such  a  conver 
sation  as  these  queries  suppose.  I  need  make  no  apology,  in  this  case, 
for  requesting  an  immediate  answer, — and  am,  sir, 

Your  obedient  humble  servant, 
Market  Street,  Sept.  9, 1782.  JOSEPH  REED. 

Gen.  Cadwalader. 

SIR, — In  answer  to  your  letter,  which  I  received  last  evening  by  Mr. 
Ingersoll,  relating  to  queries  published  in  Mr.  Oswald's  paper  of  last 
Saturday,  signed  Brutus,  I  can  assure  you,  (as  I  did  Mr.  Ingersoll,)  that 
I  am  not  the  author  of  that  publication ;  nor  have  I  published  one  single 
word,  since  I  came  from  Maryland,  relating  to  the  politics  of  this  state  ; 
yet  my  character  has,  unprovoked,  been  traduced  by  you,  or  some  of  your 
friends.  But,  sir,  I  have  repeatedly  mentioned  the  substance  of  those 
queries  to  individuals  immediately  after  the  conversation  alluded  to  hap 
pened  ;  and  since  that  time  in  many  mixed  companies.  As  charges  of 


the  same  nature  had  some  time  since  heen  made  against  you,  to  which 
you  never  made  a  reply,  the  world  very  justly  concluded  they  were  true  ; 
especially  as  the  rank  and  character  of  the  person  who  made  the  charge 
(at  that  time)  merited  your  notice.  From  this  circumstance,  it  occa 
sioned  an  additional  surprise,  that  you  should,  in  this  instance,  undertake 
to  investigate  the  matter,  and  declare  in  your  letter  to  me,  that  the  "  in 
sinuation"  was  "  a  gross  falsehood."  I  therefore  now  assert,  that  in  a 
conversation  with  you  at  the  time  and  place  mentioned  in  the  above  pub 
lication,  signed  Brutus,  that  you  expressed  the  substance,  and  I  think 
the  very  words,  contained  in  the  queries.  If  my  character  for  veracity 
wanted  credit  with  the  world,  one  or  two  other  gentlemen  could  be 
named,  who  at  nearly  the  same  time,  heard  expressions  from  you,  which 
created  in  them  sentiments  unfavorable  to  your  character.  You  seem  to 
insinuate  that  there  is  an  inconsistency  in  my  conduct,  because  I  after 
wards  reposed  a  confidence  in  you,  and  because  I  permitted  General 
Washington  to  do  the  same.  It  would  have  been  very  dangerous,  at  that 
critical  period,  to  have  exposed  your  weakness  and  timidity  to  the  militia, 
as  such  an  example  might  have  been  attended  with  the  most  fatal  conse 
quences  to  our  cause.  And  as  your  conduct,  upon  this  occasion,  appeared 
to  me  to  proceed  from  want  of  fortitude,  and  not  the  baser  motives, — and 
as  from  the  observations  I  made  to  you  at  the  time  ;  you  seemed  to  resume 
more  spirited  sentiments  in  conversation,  as  well  as  from  political  mo 
tives,  I  continued  to  show  an  appearance  of  confidence,  and  concluded  it 
best  not  to  mention  it  to  the  General.  The  successes  that  soon  followed 
gave  a  happy  turn  to  our  affairs,  and  thus  you,  (with  many  others,)  ap 
peared  to  possess  firmness  in  prosperity,  who  had  shown  a  want  of  it  in 
times  of  imminent  danger. 

If  your  conduct  in  civil  life  had  been  such  as  could  have  been  approved 
of,  former  transactions  might  have  been  buried  in  oblivion.  But  when  \ 
see  a  man  endeavoring  to  injure  the  reputation  of  those,  whose  principles 
and  conduct,  from  the  beginning  of  the  contest,  have  been  uniformly  ex 
erted  to  obtain  those  ends  intended  by  the  revolution  ;  and  when  he  denies 
all  merit  to  those  who  are  not  equally  violent  with  himself,  it  is  difficult 
to  be  silent. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

Philadelphia,  Wtk  Sept.  1782.  JOHN  CADWALADER, 

General  Reed. 

Philadelphia,  Sept.  10,  1782. 

SIR, — After  waiting  some  time,  and  being  just  about  to  set  off  for 
Bucks,  I  received  your  letter  of  this  morning,  and  am  at  a  loss  which  to 
admire  most,  the  depravity  of  your  heart,  or  the  weakness  of  your  under 
standing.  Your  quoting  General  Arnold's  testimony  to  vindicate  your 
own  falsehood  is  perfectly  consistent.  You  shall  hear  further  from  me 
on  my  return  from  Bucks.  In  the  mean  time,  I  have  made  inquiry  of 
Messrs.  T.  Smith  and  Shippen,  whom  you  mentioned  to  Mr.  Ingersoll  as 
hearing  from  you  sentiments  similar  to  those  in  the  queries,  with  a  view 
of  communicating  them  to  me;  which  they  never  did,  because  they  deny 
the  least  recollection  of  any  such  information  :  which  must  have  been  too 


10 

striking  to  them,  and  interesting  to  me,  to  have  passed  unnoticed.     Your 
talent  for  invention  is  also  displayed  on  this  occasion  most  probably. 

Whatever  you  may  suppose,  several  of  my  friends  well  know,  that  I 
have  been  anxious  to  trace  some  loose  reports  that  I  had  heard,  which 
your  residence  in  Maryland,  and  the  improbability  of  your  saying  such 
things,  had  induced  me  to  neglect. 

As  to  your  insinuation  of  my  writing  against  you  in  the  newspapers, 
or  its  being  done  with  my  privity,  it  is  equally  groundless  with  all  the 
rest.  I  have  not  wrote  in  the  newspapers  for  a  long  time,  nor  at  any 
time  in  my  life  respecting  you. 

I  am,  sir,  your  very  humble  servant, 

General  Cadwalader.  JOSEPH  REED, 

To  General  Reed. 

SIR, — I  shall  make  no  reply,  at  this  time,  to  the  expressions  contained 
in  your  letter  of  the  10th  inst. ;  but  as  you  inform  me  that  you  are  on  the 
point  of  setting  off  for  Bucks,  I  do  not  think  it  incumbent  on  me  to  re 
main  here  until  you  return,  especially  as  I  informed  Mr.  Ingersoll,  that 
I  intended  leaving  town  as  soon  as  the  dust  was  laid,  and  wished  you  to 
take  your  measures  as  soon  as  possible,  as  I  should  make  mv  arrange 
ments  accordingly.  Some  of  my  servants  are  gone,  and  I  have  every 
thing  packed  up ;  it  will,  therefore,  be  very  inconvenient  to  detain  my 
family,  as  you  do  not  mention  when  you  purpose  returning.  As  you  say 
I  shall  hear  from  you  on  your  return  from  Bucks,  I  must  inform  you,  that 
the  post  leaves  this  city  for  the  Eastern  Shore  every  Wednesday,  at  three 
o'clock ;  be  pleased  to  direct  to  me,  in  Kent  County,  Maryland,  to  be  left 
at  Stewart's.  You  shall  have  my  answer  by  the  return  of  the  post,  or  if 
necessary,  I  shall  attend  in  person  for  further  investigation. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

Philadelphia,  12th  Sept.  1782.  JOHN  CADWALADER. 

SIR, — Mr.  Clymer  delivered  me  your  letter  of  the  12th  instant.  Your 
sudden  departure  from  this  city  was  indeed  unexpected, — your  declara 
tion  to  Mr.  Ingersoll  not  implying  it  to  be  so  very  soon  ;*  and  1  should 

*  When  Mr.  Ingersoll  waited  on  me  with  General  Reed's  first  letter,  9th  of 
September  last,  I  mentioned  to  him  the  situation  of  my  family,  and  the  neces 
sity  of  my  leaving  the  city.  This  has  been  candidly  related  by  Mr.  Ingersoll 
to  Mr.  Reed,  as  appears  by  the  following  extract  from  his  letter,  in  answer  to  mine 
on  the  7th  of  March,  on  this  subject. 

Extract  from  Mr.  Ingersoll' s  letter,  dated  Philadelphia,  8th  March,  1783. 

"  The  conversation  that  passed,  I  reported  with  candour,  and  I  believe  with 
precision,  but  still  supposed,  that  the  reply  from  General  Reed  would  be  founded 
entirely  upon  your  answer.  Your  declaration,  with  respect  to  your  intention 
of  leaving  town,  I  think  I  can  repeat  in  nearly  the  words  in  which  you  express 
ed  yourself. 

"  After  discoursing  upon  the  subject  of  the  letter  I  had  put  into  your  hands, 
you  mentioned  to  me  that  your  furniture  was  packed  up  to  go  to  Maryland  ; 


11 

foave  supposed  that  my  letter  of  the  10th,  would  have  some  weight  to  pro 
tract  your  journey.  Before  I  received  yours  of  the  10th.  I  had  prepared  a 
small  publication,  which  the  receipt  of  your  letter  did  not  influence  me  to 
alter  or  delay  ;  as  no  signature  could  change  the  nature  of  things,  and 
make  falsehood  truth,  or  truth  falsehood.  Having  there  declared  the  in 
sinuation  in  Oswald's  paper  of  the  7th  instant  to  be  false,  I  now  apply  the 
same  epithet  to  your  avowal  of  them  ;  and  am  sorry,  though  not  surprised, 
that  your  violence  of  temper  should- have  occasioned  such  a  deviation  from 
the  line  of  veracity  so  essential  to  the  character  of  a  gentleman. 

I  am  already  possessed  of  sundry  authentic  documents  ;  a  few  days  will 
complete  them, — not  to  show  my  innocence, — the  improbability  of  your 
charge,  and  inconsistency  of  your  own  conduct,  making  that  unnecessary; 
but  to  show  to  what  lengths  a  rancorous  heart,  puffed  up  by  sudden  and 
accidental  wealth,  can  push  a  man  of  weak  judgment  and  ungovernable 
passions. 

I  need  not  give  you  my  address,  though  I  think  it  incumbent  on  me  to 
assure  you,  that  if  by  investigation  you  mean  a  personal  interview,  I  will 
endeavor  to  make  it  as  convenient  as  possible,  and  will  shorten  the  dis 
tance  between  us. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  humble  servant, 

Philadelphia,  23J  Sept.  1782.  JOSEPH  REED. 

General  Cadwalader. 

Marijland,  30^  September,  1782. 

SIR, — I  received  yours  of  the  23d  inst.  by  the  post.  From  the  style  of 
your  first  letter,  (9th  Sept.)  in  which  you  required  an  "immediate  an 
swer,"  I  fully  expected  an  immediate  interview.  As  you  declined  the 
interview  I  proposed  through  Mr.  Ingersoll,  and  left  town  the  next  morn 
ing,  without  saying  when  you  proposed  returning,  and  having  determined 
not  to  "  alter  or  delay"  the  "  small  publication,"  which  you  "  had  prepared 
before  the  receipt  of  my  first  letter,"— I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  what  could 
have  occasioned  your  surprise  at  my  departure,  before  your  return  from 
Bucks.  After  having  promised  to  the  public  the  most  satisfactory  proofs, 
that  no  such  conversation  as  alluded  to  in  the  queries  ever  passed,  it  was 
reasonable  to  allow  you  some  time  to  prepare  your  "  authentic  documents." 
Your  last  letter  (23d  Sept.)  informs  that  they  were  not  then  completed. 
And  could  you  reasonably  expect,  that  I  should  have  remained  in  town 
till  this  is  completed  ?  or  could  you  suppose  I  would  suffer  your  publica 
tion,  worked  up,  as  it  no  doubt  will  be,  with  all  the  cunning  and  misre 
presentation  you  are  master  of,  to  pass  unanswered  1  As  you  have  pro 
tracted  this  affair  by  your  engagement  to  the  public,  I  shall  not  put  it  in  the 
power  of  accident  to  deprive  me  of  the  opportunity  of  laying  the  facts  I 
am  possessed  of  open  to  public  view.  The  question  will  then  be,  whether 
what  I  have  avowed  is  true  1  My  wealth,  judgment,  or  passions  can  have 

that  you  had  been  waiting  for  rain  to  lay  the  dust,  and  that  if  anything  was  to 
come  of  this  business,  it  must  be  speedily. 

"  I  EXDEAVOUR  to  give  the  taords  used, — I  certainly  do  not  deviate  from  the 
purport  of  what  was  said." 

This  is  not  the  least  of  the  many  misrepresentations  in  which  Mr.  Reed  is 
"•onvicted  in  the  course  of  my 'reply. 


12 

no  influence,  either  way,  with  impartial  men.  My  own  character,  the 
character  of  others  concerned,  and  all  the  circumstances  combined,  will 
determine  the  judgment  .of  the  public.  This  business  being  ended,  an  in 
terview  may  reasonably  bd  expected. 

I  am,  sir,  your  humble  servant, 
Gen.  Reed,  Philadelphia.  JOHN  CADWALADER. 

Having  for  several  years  given  over  every  expectation  of  seeing  those 
changes  made  in  the  constitution  of'  Pennsylvania,  which  I  have  ever 
thought  necessary  to  secure  that  happiness  and  liberty  intended  by  the  re- 
\7olution,  I  retired,  and  have  never  since  even  expressed  my  sentiments 
concerning  the  politics  of  this  state,  except  among  my  particular  friends. 
Your  vexatious  administration  hath  furnished  an  example,  to  what  a  dan 
gerous  length  the  authority  of  government  may  be  curried  under  such  a 
constitution. 

The  particular  circumstances  of  my  family  made  it  necessary  to  spend 
a  few  months  in  this  city,  last  summer,  without  an  intention  of  taking  up 
my  residence  here  till  the  conclusion  of  the  war;  and  though  I  never  in 
terfered  in  politics  here,  except  among  my  particular  friends,  I  was  at 
tacked,  in  the  public  papers,  by  a  party  blindly  devoted  to  you  and  your 
measures  ;  I  made  no  reply,  from  a  confidence  that  such  intimations  could 
not  injure  me  with  those  whose  good  opinion  I  regarded.  But  whether  a 
friend  published  the  piece  signed  Brutus,  in  the  mere  spirit  of  retaliation, 
or  whether  it  was  calculated  for  political  purposes,  at  the  last  election,  let 
the  author  determine.  The  conversation,  alluded  to  in  the  queries,  was 
known  to  many  long  before  that  period;  among  whom  were  some  of  your 
friends,  in  proof  of  which  I  offer  Mr.  Pryor's  certificate.* 

Having  mentioned  the  conversation  publicly,  those  who  heard  it  were 
certainly  at  liberty  to  make  what  use  of  it  they  saw  proper. 

Being  entrusted  with  the  command  of  the  militia  and  a  New  England 
brigade,  which  lay  at  Bristol  in  December,  1776,  I  had  permission  from 
the  Commander-in-chief  to  make  an  attack  on  the  enemy,  whenever  I 
thought  it  could  be  done  with  success ;  I  was  prepared  on  the  evening  of 
the  22d  .December,  to  attempt  the  enemy's  post,  above  the  Black  Horse, 
with  seven  hundred  men ;  and  about  nine  or  ten  o'clock  P.  M.  I  received  a 
letter  from  the  General,  requesting,  if  the  enterprise  was  not  too  far  ad 
vanced,  to  Jay  it  aside,  as  he  intended  a  general  attack  on  the  enemy's 
posts  in  a  few  days.  From  this  circumstance,  it  appears,  that  the  General 
gave  rne  the  information  relating  to  the  intended  attack,  the  evening  be- 

*  Being  called  upon  by  General  Cauwalader  to  recollect  the  conversation  we 
had  at  the  Coffee-House,  in  the  fall  of  the  year  seventy-eight,  when  he  related 
what  had  passed  between  him  and  Mr.  Reed  at  Bristol,  I  remember  the  subject 
corroborates  with  those  queries  I  have  since  seen  published  in  Mr.  Oswald's  pa 
per,  of  the  7th  September,  1782.  I  likewise  remember  giving  him  a  hint,  that 
some  of  Mr.  Reed's  friends  were  present,  on  which  he  repeated  xvhat  he  had  re 
lated  before,  and  then  addressed  himself  to  the  gentlemen,  and  informed  them,  if 
any  of  Mr.  Reed's  friends  were  present,  they  were  at  liberty  to  make  what  use 
they  pleased  of  it.  THOMAS  PRYOR. 

Philadelphia,  March  8,  1783. 


13 

kire,  you  received  his  letter  of  the  23d  December,  in  which  the  precise  time 
was  fixed.  As  he  knew  my  intention  to  command  the  party  myself,  and 
therefore  I  might  not  be  at  Bristol  the  .next  day,  this  will  account  for  his 
letter  of  the  23d  being  directed  to  you.  But  here  you  mean  to  convey  an 
idea,  that  a  preference  in  this  communication  was  intended  to  you,  though 
lie  had  given  me,  in  effect,  the  same  information  the  evening  before.  This, 
too,  you  adduce  as  a  proof  of  the  General's  "  unbounded  confidence  in  you," 
and  you  say  you  were  sent  by  General  Washington  for  the  "  express  pur 
pose  of  assisting  me  ;"  and  "  whatever  my  abilities  were,  that  I  had  less 
experience  of  actual  service  than  you  had, — that  you  were  received  with 
cool  civility,  and  very  few  marks  of  private  attention ;"  though  you  ac 
knowledge  that  I,  at  the  same  time,  consulted  you  without  reserve  on  our 
military  affairs."  I  will  admit,  that  your  opportunities  of  acquiring  expe 
rience  were  greater  than  mine ;  and  considering  the  extensive  command 
I  then  had,  (which  was  in  number  nearly  equal  to  the  force  under  the  im 
mediate  command  of  General  Washington,)  I  should  have  thought  it  no 
reflection  on  my  abilities;  nor  would  it  have  hurt  my  feelings,  if  an  officer 
of  superior  abilities  and  rank  had  been  sent  to  take,  the  command, — or  even 
an  inferior  officer  to  assist  me.  But  whether  your  appointment  was  of 
the  mere  motion  of  the  commander-in-chief,  or  at  your  instance,  (for  assist 
ing  me  or  other  purposes,')  may  at  least  become  a  question. 

That  I  received  you  "  with  ccol  civility,  and  very  few  marks  of  private 
attention,"  [  do  not  remember ;  but  to  give  what  you  mean  to  convey  its 
full  force,  I  will  not  hesitate  to  acknowledge  it  in  its  fullest  extent:  as 
vou  have  granted,  that  I  consulted  "without  reserve  on  our  military  af 
fairs."  In  this  instance,  the  world  will  do  me  justice,  as  it  appears  that  i 
did  not  suffer  personal  dislike  to  interfere  with  public  duty. 

Though  the  world  have  little  to  do  with  the  causes  of  private  animosities, 
I  shall  think  myself  perfectly  excusable,  here  to  say  a  few  words  on  this 
subject,  as  you  have  assigned  causes  for  the  interruption  of  our  intimacy 
different  from  the  true  ones,  and  with  a  view  of  creating  prejudices  against 
me. 

I  acknowledge  that  such  intimacy  subsisted  between  us  in  early  life, 
and  you  malignantly  date  its  "  dissolution"  at  the  time  of  my  sudden  acces 
sion  of  fortune  as  owing  thereto.  If  I  were  to  admit,  that  you  could  properly 
date  this  breach  from  the  moment  you  mention  ;  I  flatter  myself,  you  would 
find  it  very  difficult  to  persuade  those  who  know  me,  to  believe  that  to  be 
the  true  cause.  But  this  was  really  not  the  fact.  The  unworthy  measures 
you  took  to  evade  the  payment,  (till  compelled  by  a  judgment  of  the  court,) 
of  Mr.  Porter's  order  on  you  in  favor  of  my  brother  and  myself,  which  you 
had  accepted,  (to  be  paid  out  of  a  bond  assigned  by  said  Porter  to  you  in 
trust,)  was  the  true  motive  of  that  dissolution  you  complain  of.  If  you 
turn  to  the  records  of  the  court,  or  review  the  correspondence  with  my 
brother  on  that  subject,  you  must  blush  at  such  a  subterfuge.  From  that 
time,  and  owing  thereto,  I  avoided  your  company.  I  could  here  make  the- 
proper  reflections,  with  respect  to  your  veracity  and  integrity,  but  the 
world  will  do  you  justice. 

The  critical  situation  of  our  affairs,  in  the  winter  of  1776,  is  well  known- 
to  every  inhabitant  of  the  United  States  ;  but  those  only  who  were  at  that 


14 

time  in  the  field,  can  have  a  iruo  idea  of  the  circumstances  which  often 
threatened  the  dissolution  of  the  militia.  My  situation  gave  me  better 
opportunities  of  knowing-  the  feelings  and  temper  of  both  officers  and  pri 
vates,  than  any  other  person  ;  and  the  happy  expedients  used  on  several 
occasions,  to  prevent  their  going  home  in  a  body,  are  well  known  to  many 
officers  whom  1  then  had  the  honor  to  command. 

The  first  intimation  we  had  of  the  capture  of  General  Lee,  was  received 
by  a  flag  which  arrived  at  my  quarters.  To  determine  whether  this  was 
a  mislbrtune,  or  an  advantage  to"  the  cause  of  America,  is  at  this  time  im 
material.  It  was  then,  however,  generally  thought  a  matter  of  great  mag 
nitude,  in  the  British  as  well  as  in  the  American  camp.  The  effect  it  had 
on  our  army  is  well  remembered  by  those  who  were  present,  but  particu 
larly  on  the  militia. 

That  men  attached  to  a  cause  upon  principle,  should  persevere  in  a  pros 
perous  situation  of  affairs,  is  not  uncommon  We  were  at  that  time  sepa 
rated  from  our  enemies  only  by  a  river,  which  we  expected  every  day 
might  be  passable  on  the  ice, — greatly  inferior  in  number  and  discipline, 
<ind  almost  destitute  of  every  thing  necessary  even  tor  defence.  Add  to 
this,  a  proclamation  of  General  Howe,  offering  pardon  and  protection  to 
those  who  should  submit  and  swear  allegiance  before  the  first  of  January, 
1777,  and  this  time  nearly  expired.  I  say,  under  such  circumstances,  it 
would  be  wonderful  indeed,  if  no  officer  of  the  army  sunk  under  the  appre 
hension  of  those  dangers  that  threatened  him.  That  there  were  more  than 
yourself,  I  well  know,  whose  expressions  discovered  a  timidity  unworthy 
an  officer  and  a  patriot,  who  notwithstanding,  from  the  well-timed  and 
spirited  remonstrances  of  their  friends,  were  induced  to  assume  a  firmer 
tone  of  behaviour,  and  have  since  rendered  their  country  considerable 
services. 

Having  fully  stated  the  temper  of  men's  minds  at  this  alarming  period, 
and  the  situation  of  public  affairs,  I  shall  now  recite  the  conversation  and 
circumstances  relating  thereto,  which  I  have  avowed  in  my  letter  to  you 
of  the  10th  September,  as  having  passed  between  us  at  Bristol. 

I  had  occasion  to  speak  with  you  a  few  days  before  the  intended  attack 
on  the  26th  December,  1776,  and  requested  you  to  retire  with  me  to  a  pri 
vate  room  at  my  quarters;  the  business  related  to  intelligence  ;  a  gene 
ral  conversation,  however,  soon  took  place,  concerning  the  state  of  public 
affairs  ;  and  after  running  over  a  number  of  topics, — in  an  agony  of  mind, 
and  despair  strongly  expressed  in  your  countenance  and  tone  of  voice,  you 
spoke  your  apprehensions  concerning  the  event  of  the  contest, — that  our 
affairs  looked  very  desperate,  and  we  were  only  making  a  sacrifice  of  our 
selves;  that  the  time  of  General  Howe's  offering  pardon  and  protection  to 
persons  who  should  come  in  before  the  first  January,  1777,  was  nearly  ex 
pired  ;  and  that  Galloway,  the  Aliens,  and  others,  had  gone  over,  and 
availed  themselves  of  that  pardon  and  protection,  offered  by  the  said  pro 
clamation  ;  that  you  had  a  family,  and  ought  to  take  care  of  them,  and  that 
you  did  not  understand  following  the  wretched  remains  (or  remnants)  of  a 
broken  army  ;  that  your  brother  (then  a  colonel  or  lieutenant-colonel  of 
militia, — but  you  say  of  the  five  month's  men,  which  is  not  material,)  was 
then  at  Burlington,  with  his  family  ;  and  that  you  had  advised  him  to  re 
main  there,  and  if  the  enemy  took  possession  of  the  town,  to  take  a  pro- 


15 

lection  and  swear  allegiance ;  and  in  so  doing  he  would  be  perfectly  jus 
tifiable. 

This  was  the  substance,  and  I  think  nearly  the  very  words;  but  that 
"you  did  not  understand  following  the  wretched  remains  (or  remnants') 
of  a  broken  army"  1  perfectly  remember  to  be  the  very  words  you  ex 
pressed. 

That  our  situation  was  critical,  and  the  dangers  that  threatened  us 
great,  were  universally  acknowledged;  but  I  was  astonished  to  hear  such 
expressions  from  the  Ad  jut  ant- General  of  the  army,  as  your  conduct  had 
been  approved  by  report ;  for  your  good  behaviour  was  not  personally 
known  to  me.  Judging  from  appearances,  and  from  all  circumstances  at 
the  time,  I  imputed  these  sentiments  solely  to  timidity  ;  and,  therefore,  to 
rouse  your  feelings,  and  give  new  vigor  to  a  mind  weakened  by  fear,  I  re 
called  to  your  memory  your  former  public  professions  and  conduct,  and  en 
deavoured  to  paint,  in  the  strongest  colours,  the  fatal  consequences  that 
would  ensue  from  such  an  example,  particularly  to  the  militia  ;  that  if  offi 
cers,  (more  especially  one  in  your  station,)  discovered  a  want  of 'firmness, 
we  could  not  reasonably  expect  private  soldiers  to  remain  in  the  field  ;  and 
added,  that  as  I  was  commanding  officer  there,  I  should  not  pass  over  such 
expressions  in  future ;  appearing  to  be  invigorated  by  these  remonstrances, 
your  subsequent  conversation  induced  me  to  hope  from  you  a  more  honor 
able  resolution.  The  immediate  turn  in  our  affairs  confirmed  this  hope. 
I  had  besides,  at  the  moment,  a  still  stronger  dissuasive.  I  foresaw  that 
an  "  arrest,"  or  discovery,  on  my  part,  would  produce  all  the  bad  effects 
naturally  to  be  apprehended  from  actual  desertion  ;  I  mean  with  respect 
to  the  discouragement  which  such  an  example  would  have  caused  in  the 
army,  but  particularly  in  the  militia  ;  and  especially,  as  at  that  time  the 
militia  were  assembling  at  Philadelphia,  under  General  Putnam,  from 
every  part  of  the  country,  influenced  by  the  example  of  the  city  troops,  as 
well  as  by  a  sense  of  danger  and  duty.  If,  then,  the  city  militia  had  dis 
banded,  no  person  can  hesitate  to  determine  what  would  have  been  the 
fate  of  those  from  the  country. 

The  reasons  of  my  concealing  it  from  the  General  were,  that  nothing 
but  an  arrest,  on  his  part,  could  have  prevented  the  execution  of  this  plan 
of  desertion,  and  the  bad  consequences  ensuing  from  it,  the  betraying  of  se 
crets  ;  and  such  arrest  would  have  wrought  the  other  ill  consequences  I 
have  spoken  of.  In  this  dilemma,  I  used  a  discretion  which  1  considered 
most  advantageous  to  my  country  ;  and  trusted  to  my  hopes,  that  so  impor 
tant  an  event,  as  your  defection,  would  not  happen,  and  thus  avoid  the 
immediate  and  certain  EVIL.  And  besides,  I  have,  in  every  stage  of  ihe 
war,  shown  a  disposition  to  overlook  political  weaknesses,  conceiving  that 
every  man  we  could  retain  in  the  service  an  acquisition,  tending  tcTdraw 
forth  the  whole  strength  and  abilities  of  my  country  against  the  common 
enemy. 

That  the  conversation  alluded  to  is  a  new  tale,  devieed  in  the  malig 
nancy  of  party,  has  been  asserted  by  you  ;  and  on  this  assertion  is  founded 
many  of  your  strongest  conclusions  in  favor  of  your  own  innocence.  But 
what  must  the  world  think  of  your  effrontery,  when  they  read  the  follow 
ing  letter  of  Col.  Alexander  Hamilton,  who  was  then  Aid-dc-Camp  to  the 
Commander-in-chief,  and  now  a  delegate  in  Congress;  whose  conduct  and 


16 

character  are  well  known  and  approved  by  tlie  citizens  of  every  state  in 
the  Union, — a  gentleman  who,  being  a  resident  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
cannot  be  supposed  in  any  manner  concerned  in  the  politics  of  Pennsyl 
vania. 

Philadelphia,  Uth  March,  1783. 

DEAR  SIR, — Though  disagreeable  to  appear  in  any  manner  in  a  personal 
dispute  ;  yet  I  cannot,  in  justice  1o  you,  refuse  to  comply  with  the  request 
contained  in  your  note.  1  have  delayed  answering  it,  to  endeavour  to  re 
collect,  with  more  precision,  the  time,  place  and  circumstances  of  the  con 
versation,  to  which  you  allude.  I  cannot,  however,  remember  with  cer 
tainty  more  than  this;  that  some  time  in  the  campaign  of  seventy-seven, 
at  head-quarters  in  this  state,  you  mentioned  to  me  and  some  other  gentle 
men  of  General  Washington's  family,  in  a  confidential  way,  that  at  some 
period  in  seventy-six,  I  think  after  the  American  army  crossed  the  Dela 
ware  in  its  retreat,  Mr.  Reed  had  spoken  to  you  in  terms  of  great  despon 
dency  respecting  American  affairs,  and  had  intimated,  that  he  thought  it 
time  for  gentlemen  to  take  care  of  themselves,  and  that  it  was  unwise  any 
longer  to  follow  the  fortunes  of  a  ruined  cause,  or  something  of  a  similar 
import.  It  runs  in  my  mind,  that  the  expressions  you  declared  to  have 
been  made  use  of  by  Mr.  Reed  were,  that  he  thought  he  ought  no  longer  to 
"  risque  his  life  and  fortune  with  the  shattered  remains  of  a  broken  army  :" 
but  it  is  the  part  of  candour  to  observe,  that  I  am  not  able  to  distinguish  with 
certainty,  whether  the  recollection  I  have  of  these  words  arises  from  the 
strong  impression  made  by  your  declaration  at  the  time,  or  from  having 
heard  them  more  than  once  repeated  within  a  year  past. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  with  great  esteem,  your  obedient  servant, 

To  General  Cadwalader.  A.  HAMILTON. 

At  the  time  I  communicated  the  contents  of  Colonel  Hamilton's  certifi 
cate  to  him,  in  confidence,  it  appears  by  your  own  acknowledgment,  that* 
"  no  party  or  prejudices  existed,  (at  least  as  to  you,") — "  the  intercourse 
arising  from  these  mingled  duties  and  services,  which  were  continued 
until  the  army  went  into  winter  quarters,  at  the  VALLEY  FORGE,  soon  did 
away  the  coolness  which  had  for  some  years  subsisted,  and  in  no  small 
degree  revived  our  former  habits  of  friendship  ;" — "  but  it  was  our  lot  to 
meet  again,  a  few  days  before  the  battle  of  Mon mouth  ;  here  we  were  again 
united  in  confidence  and  danger.  After  the  battle,  we  left  the  army  to 
gether,  and  that  period  -closed  our  friendly  intercourse  for  ever."  From 
these,  (your  expressions,)  you  affect  to  believe,  and  wish  the  world  to 
think,  that  our  former  friendship  was  restored.  It  was  not  so;  I  cannot 
call  it  friendship.  The  transaction  I  have  mentioned  occasioned  the  disso 
lution  of  that  intimacy,  contracted  in  early  life,  which  but  little  accorded 
with  my  notion  of  perfect  integrity.  From  that  time,  and  owing  solely  to 
that  cause,  1  took  the  resolution  to  avoid  your  company,  as  a  private  gen 
tleman,  and  which  I  constantly  adhered  to.  Meeting  in  the  army,  where 
we  served  most  of  the  time  in  the  character  of  volunteers,  I  did  not  think 
it  right  to  suffer  former  dislikes  to  interrupt  the  duties  and  services  re 
quired  of  us  by  the  commander-in-chief,  so  necessary  for  mutual  and  gene- 

*  See  Gen,  Heed's  Address  to  (he  Public,  pages  24,  25. 


17 

ral  safety.  It',  then,  my  dislike  to  you  did  not  proceed  from  such  motives 
as  sometimes  induce  men  to  seek  for  opportunities  of  gratifying  their  re 
sentments,  tor  what  purpose  could  I  have  invented  such  a  "  tale  ?"  or  if  my 
resentment  was  such  as  you  represent,  why  did  I  not  gratify  it  by  making 
it  public  immediately  1  at  that  time,  rny  mind  could  not  have  been  "in 
flamed  by  party  ;"  because  you  admit,  that  no  parties  then  existed,  ("at 
least  as  to  you  ;")  nor  could  my  ambition  have  been  disappointed, — because, 
being  commanding  officer  of  the  Pennsylvania  Militia,  (the  council  of  safe 
ty,  who  then  held  the  powers  of  government,)  could  not  gratify  me  further. 
1  could  not  have  "  mistaken  a  conversation  with  some  other  person,"  be 
cause  there  was  not  that  "distance  of  time,"  which  you  suppose,  nor  can 
it  be  conceived  by  the  most  credulous  to  be  "  some  jocular  expression  ;" 
because  the  situation  of  affairs  rather  suppressed  than  excited  in  you,  the 
appearance  of  mirth.  Having  mentioned  this  conversation  long  before 
parties  were  formed  here,  it  must  appear  to  every  impartial  person,  that 
it  could  not  have  been  the  mere  invention  of  my  own  '•  brain,"  suggested 
in  the  spirit  of  party  ;  and  it  is  still  more  absurd  to  suppose,  that  1  could 
have  foreseen  that  you,  who  then  thought  as  I  did  concerning  the  essential 
objections  to  the  constitution  of  Pennsylvania,  should  refuse  the  appoint 
ment  of  Chief  Justice,  because  you  could  not,  in  conscience,  take  the  oath 
of  office;  that  Mr.  Wharton,  (the  first  President,)  should  die  ;  and  yet  that 
you  should  afterwards  accept  the  chair  of  government.  It  is,  however, 
incontestibly  proved,  that  the  conversation  alluded  to  was  spoken  of  by  me 
at.  an  earl}7  period,  and  long  before  your  appointment  to  the  chair  of  go 
vernment  ;  and  yet  you  say,  "  the  prosecution  of  General  Arnold,  1  have 
no  doubt,  gave  rise  to  it."  If  I  was  to  leave  it  to  your  ingenuity  to  explain 
to  the  world  my  motives  for  inventing  such  a  •'  tale,"  to  what  purposes 
could  you  possibly  impute  my  design"?  It  could  not  be  to  gratify  my  re 
sentment  tor  the  injury  you  attempted  upon  my  property  ;  because  I  did 
not  then  make  it  public  ;  it  could  not  be  occasioned  by  any  personal  of 
fence  taken  in  1777,  (when  1  privately  mentioned  it  to  Colonel  Hamilton,) 
because  you  contend  that  cur  "  former  habits  of  friendship"  were  revived, 
and  acknowledge,  that  1  never  made  it  public  for  several  years  afterwards. 
Here,  then,  the  mail  of  humanity  may  ask  me,  why  did  you,  at  so  late  a 
date,  publicly  mention  a  circumstance  injurious  to  General  Reed's  repu 
tation,  as  Adjutant  General  of  the  army  and  a  patriot,  which  after-services 
ought  to  have  consigned  to  oblivion  ?  The  question  is  a  natural  one,  and  1 
will  give  it  an  answer.  The  first  occasion  of  my  mentioning  this  matter 
publicly  was  this;  soon  after  our  return  to  the  city,  in  the  year  1778, 
among  the  victims  selected  for  public  examples,  there  was  a  youno;  gen 
tleman,  with  whom  1  had  funned  an  intimacy  in  early  lite.  I  considered 
him,  as  he  was  by  many,  (and  his  acquittal  justified  the  opinion,)  as  un 
justly  persecuted  ;  but  General  Reed,  who  had  resumed  his  original  pio- 
lession,  voluntarily  aided  the  prosecution,  and  with  all  the  force  of  decla 
mation,  labored  to  inflame  his  judges  and  jury  against  him.  It  was  then, 
recollecting  how  near  he  once  appeared  to  the  commission  of  the  same  of 
fence  which  he  charged  upon  the  other,  or  at  leatt  to  a  defection  from  the 
cause*  that  rny  indignation  broke  out  at  the  trial,  saying  to  those  around 
me,  that  "  it  argued  the  ejctrernity  <>f  effrontery  and  baseness,  in  one. 
fnctn  tvpnrsirc  another  to  death,  /or  tal-ing  a  step  which  his  mm  foot  hud 
3 


13 

one«  raised  to  take  r*  This  was  anterior  to  his  elevation  to  the 
Presidency,  and  whilst  his  powers  of  doing  mischief,  were  he  so  inclined, 
were  circumscribed  by  the  narrowness  of  his  sphere  of  action  ;  at  such  a 
time,  could  I  think  his  loss  of  fame  so  essential  to  the  public  good,  or,  if  he 
will,  to  the  purposes  of  party,  as  to  be  willing  to  attempt  it,  at  the  expense 
of  my  private  veracity,  my  honor  and  conscience. 

The  inconsistency  of  such  ostensible  conduct,  and  the  baseness  of  a  me 
ditated  defection,  is  not  irreconcilable  to  those  who  have  had  opportunities 
of  knowing-  that  he  is  not  incapable  of  such  vast  extremes ;  who  have  seen 
him  at  the  bar  of  the  assembly  he  himself  disqualified  by  non-cori.pliance 
with  the  test  laws,  as  since  fully  appears  by  a  publication  signed  ISidney, 
unblushingly  attempt  to  set  aside  the  famous  Chester  election,  upon  the 
suggestion  of  its  having  been  carried  by  electors  disqualified  from  the  like 
circumstance. 

It  is  thus  I  would  have  answered  the  question,  why  I  have  mentioned 
publicly  your  meditated  defection,  and  I  trust  that  such  provocation  merit 
ed  those  reflections  which  might  otherwise  have  remained  in  rny  own 
breast. 

The  objection  to  the  force  of  my  single  testimony  thus  obviated,  did  no 
other  offer  to  corroborate  it,  I  should  not  hesitate  to  submit  it,  under  such 
circumstances,  to  the  judgment  of  the  public,  resting  their  determination 
upon  the  credit  of  my  veracity  against  yours.  Having  t-upported  an  un 
blemished  character,'!  dare  defy  any  person  to  produce  an  instance  where 
1  have  even  been  suspected  of  an  untruth,  or  of  a  base  or  dishonorable  ac 
tion.  Conscious  of  the  truth  of  what  I  have  asserted,  I  have  no  fears  that 
my  conduct  will  ever  "dishonor  me  with  the  wise  and  virtuous." 

"The  reasons  I  have  assigned  for  the  dissolution  of  our  intimacy  antece 
dent  to  the  war,  will  afibrd  a  better  proof  of  your  ingenuity  than  your  in 
tegrity;  and  further,  (with  respect  10  your  veracity,)  if  any  other  instance 
is  necessary,  let  me  add  one  which  happened  at  camp,  (at  head-quarters,) 
in  the  year  1777,  soon  after  the  battle  of  Germantown,  when  in  my  hear 
ing,  and  in  the  presence  of  three  officers  of  the  first  rank  in  the  army,  you 
was  charged  to  your  face  with  a  falsehood,  and  which  was  fully  proved 
the  next  day,  by  the  general  officer  who  made  the  charge. 

And  now,  before  I  introduce  the  concurrent  testimony  in  support  of  my 
assertion,  I  shall  take  but  a  momentary  notice  here  of  those  disresfectful 
expressions  with  which  you  have  decorated  your  pamphlet.  Weakness 

*  AK  a  prpof  of  my  having  made  this  declaration,  and  the  occasion  of  it,  I 
offer  the  following  letter  : 

DKAK  SIR, — I  have,  at  your  request,  charged  my  recollection  with  what  fell 
from  you,  in  the  hearing  of  myself  and  several  others,  at  the  trial  of  Mr.  William 
Hamilton,  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Reed,  who  assisted  the  prosecution  ;  it  was  in 
terms  to  this  effrct;  thit  it  indicated  the  extremity  of  bareness  in  him,  to  attempt 
to  destroy  another  for  taking  the  very  step  he  had  once  lifted  his  own  foot  to 
take.  This,  at  the  instant,  made  a  deeper  impression  on  me,  as  havinsr  never  till 
then,  though  living  in  the  closest  intimacy,  heard  you  drop  the  most  distort  hint 
of  any  intended  defection  of  Mr.  Reed,  of  which  I  myself  had  no  suspicion. 

March  2d  1783.  Your  humble  servant, 

GS.dWtl.deT.  GEORGE  C-LYMEK. 


J9 

of  head,  is  an  accusation  of  a  kind  which  it  would  equally  puzzle  the  fool 
and  the  wise  to  reply  to  ;  but  against  that  of  badness  of  heart,  my  kno,vn 
tenor  of  conduct,  in  "private  and  public  life,  must  be  my  defence  ;  if  that 
fails,  it  must  be  needless  in  me  to  set  up  any  other. 

But  if  even  prejudiced  men  should  still  doubt  the  truth  of  my  assertion, 
with  respect  to  the  conversation  alluded  to,  in  the  above  representation, 
every  doubt  mu^t  be  removed  upon  reading  the  following1  certificates. 

Hermitage,  5lh  October,  1782. 

DEAR  GENERAL, — In  the  winter  of  1776,  after  we  had  crossed  the  Dela 
ware,  Genera]  Reed,  in  conversation  with  me,  said  that  he,  and  several 
others  of  my  friends,  were  surprised  at  seeing-  me  there.  1  told  him,  1  did 
not  understand  such  a  conversation;  that  as  I  had  engaged  in  the  cause 
from  principle,  I  was  determined  to  share  the  late  of  my  country  ;  to 
which  he  made  no  reply,  and  the  conversation  ended.  As  1  had  the  honor 
of  commanding  the  militia  of  New  Jersey,  both  duty  and  inclination  led 
me  to  use  every  exertion,  in  support  of  a  cause  1  had  engaged  in  from  the 
purest  motives.  I  was  really  much  surprised  at  General  Reed's  manner, 
considering  the  station  he  then  acted  in,  and  his  reputation  as  a  patriot; 
but  I  considered  it  as  the  effect  of  despondency,  from  the  then  gloomy 
prospect  of  our  affairs. 

This  I  mentioned  to  several  of  my  friends  at  the  time,  who  all  viewed  it 
in  the  same  point  of  light.  I  am,  dear  General,  yours. 

General  Cudwalader.  P.  DICKINSON. 

I  do  hereby  certify,  that  in  December,  1776,  while  the  militia  lay  at 
Bristol,  General  Reed,  to  the  best  of  my  recollection  and  belief,  upon  my 
inquiring  the  news,  and  what  he  thought  of  our  affairs  in  general,  said  that 
appearances  were  very  gloomy  and  unfavorable ;  that  he  was  tearful  or 
apprehensive  the  business  was*  nearly  settled,  or  the  game  almost  up,  or 
words  to  the  same  effect.  That  these  sentiments  appeared  to  me  very  ex 
traordinary  and  dangerous,  as  I  conceived  they  would,  at  that  time,  have 
a  very  bad  tendency,  if  publicly  known  to  be  the  sentiments  of  General 
Reed,  who  then  held  an  appointment  in  the  army  of  the  first  consequence. 

Philadelphia,  March  12,  1763.  JOHN  NJXON. 

A  few  days  before  the  battle  of  Trenton,  on  the  26th  of  December,  1776, 
I  rode  with  Mr.  Reed  from  Bristol  to  Head  Quarters  near  New  Town, 
In  the  course  of  our  ride,  our  conversation  turned  upon  public  affair?,  when 
Mr.  Reed  expressed  himself  in  the  manner  following. 

He  spoke  with  great  respect  of  the  bravery  of  the  British  troops,  and 
with  great  contempt  of  the  cowardice  of  the  American,  and  more  espe 
cially  of  the  New  England  troops.  So  great  was  the  terror  inspired  by 
the  British  soldiers  into  the  minds  of  our  men,  that  he  said,  when  a  Bri 
tish  soldier  was  brought  as  a  prisoner  to  our  camp,  our  soldiers  viewed 
him  at  a  distance  as  a  superior  kind  of  being 

Upon  my  lamenting  to  him  the  supposed  defection  of  Mr.  Dickinson, 
who  it  was  unjustly  said,  had  deserted  his  country,  he  used  the  following 
words :  '•  Damn  him — I  wish  the  devil  had  him,  when  ho  w:rote  the  Far 
mer's  letters.  He  has  began  an  opposition  to  Great  Britain  which  we 
have  not  strength  to  finish." 


20 

Upon  my  lamenting  that  a  gentleman,  of  his  acquaintance,  had  submit 
ted  to  the  enemy,  he  said,  "•  that  he  had  acted  properly,  and  that  a  man 
who  had  a  family,  did  right  to  take  that  care  of  them."  ' 

The  whole  of  his  conversation  upon  the  subject  of  our  affairs,  indicated 
a  great  despair  of  the  American  cause. 

Upon  my  going"  to  Baltimore,  to  take  my  seat  in  Congress,  the  latter 
end  of  January,  I  mentioned  the  above  conversation  to  my  brother.  I 
likewise  mentioned  it  to  the  Hon.  John  Adams,  Esq.,  with  whom  I  then 
lived  in  intimacy,  a  day  or  two  after  his  return  from  Boston  to  Congress. 
I  did  not  mention  it  with  a  view  of  injuring  Mr.  Reed,  for  I  still  respected 
him,  especially  as  I  then  believed  that  the  victory  at  Trenton  had  restored 
the  tone  of  his  mind,  and  dissipated  his  fears,  but  to  show  Mr.  Adams  an 
instance  of  a  man  possessing  and  exercising  military  spirit  and  activity, 
and  yet  deficient  in  political  fortitude.  To  which  I  well  remember  Mr. 
Adams  replied  in  the  following  words  :  "  The  powers  of  the  human  mind 
are  combined  together  in  an  infinite  variety  of  ways." 

Philadelphia,  March  3,  1763.  BENJAMIN  RUSH. 

I  went  with  Congress  to  Baltimore,  in  1776.  On  the  arrival  of  my  bro 
ther  there,  a  few  weeks  afterwards,  I  called  to  see  him.  To  the  best  of 
rny  recollection,  Mr.  Clerk  and  Dr.  Witherspoon,  delegates  from  New 
Jersey,  were  in  the  room  with  him.  The  two  former,  after  some  time 
withdrew,  and  rny  brother  then  mentioned  the  conversation  as  related  by 
him  above.  He  informed  me,  also,  of  some  other  conversation  that  passed 
between  Mr.  Reed  and  him,  which  is  not  necessary  at  present  to  repeat. 

Philadelphia,  March  3,  1783.  JACOB  RUSH. 

Joseph  Ellis,  a  Colonel  of  Militia,  in  the  County  of  Gloucester,  and  state 
of  New  Jersey,  doth  hereby  certify,  that  upon  the  retreat  of  a  body  of  mi 
litia  from  before  Count  Donop,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Mount  Holly,  in  Bur 
lington  County,  in  the  month  of  December,  1776,  he  met  with  Charles 
Pettit,  Esq.,  then  Secretary  of  the  s&id  State  :  that  a  conversation  en 
sued  between  them  respecting  the  situation  of  the  public  dispute  at  that  pe 
riod  ;  that  Mr.  Pettit,  in  said  conversation,  representing  that  our  affairs 
were  desperate,  Col.  Ellis  endeavored  to  dissuade  him  from  such  an  opin 
ion,  when  Mr.  Pettit  replied,  "  What  hurts  me  more  than  all  is,  my  bro 
ther-in-law,  General  Reed  has,  (or  I  believe  he  has,)  given  up  the  contest." 
That  a  good  deal  more  passed  between  Mr.  Pettit  and  Col.  Ellis,  during 
the  said  conversation,  but  omitted  here,  as  being  thought  unnecessary. 

Woodbury,  March  9,  1783.  JOSEPH  ELLIS. 

I  do  certify,  that  I  was  present  at  the  conversation  alluded  to  above  ; 
that  although  I  cannot  recollect  the  express  words  made  use  of  in  the  said 
conversation,  yet  such  conversation  did  take  place,  and  that  the  substance 
of  it  answers  to  the  certificate  of  Col.  Ellis. 

Woodbury,  March  9, 1783.  FRANKLIN  DAVENPORT. 

These  are  to  certify,  that  in  December,  1776  and  January,  1777,  I,  the 
subscriber,  was  Major  of  the  second  battalion  of  Philadelphia  Militia, 
whereof  John  Bayard  was  colonel,  and  then  lay  at  Bristol,  and  part  of 
the  time  opposite  Trenton,  on  the  Pennsylvania  side.  That  while  we  lay 
at  Bristol,  Joseph  Reed,  Esq.  joined  us;  that  during  his  being  there  and 


21 

near  Trenton,  lie  often  went  out  for  intelligence,  as  Col.  Bayard  told  me,- 
over  to  Burlington,  in  which  place  the  enemy  frequently  were  ;  that  being- 
absent  frequently  all  day  and  all  night,  I  as  frequently  inquired  what 
could  become  of  Gen.  Reed.  Col.  Bayard  often  answered  me,  He  feared 
lie  had  left  us,  and  gone  over  to  the  enemy.  One  time  in  particular,  being 
absent  two  days  and  two  nights,  if  not  three  nights,  Col.  Bayard  came  to 
me  with  great  concern,  and  said  he  was  fully  persuaded  Gen.  Reed  was 
gone  to  join  the  enemy  and  make  his  peace.  I  asked  him,  how  he  could 
possibly  think  so,  of  a  man  who  had  taken  so  early  a  part,  and  had  acted 
steadily.  lie  replied,  he  was  persuaded  it  was  so  ;  for  he  knew  the  gene 
ral  thought  it  was  all  over,  and  that  we  could  not  stand  against  the  ene 
my  ;  and  at  the  same  time  wept  much.  I  endeavored  all  I  could  to  drive 
such  notions  from  him,  but  he  was  so  fully  persuaded  that  he  had  left  us, 
and  gone  over  to  the  enemy,  that  arguing  about  the  matter  was  only  loss 
of  time  ;  Col.  Bayard  often  making  mention,  that  he  knew  his  sentiments 
much  better  than  I  did.  After  being  absent  two  or  three  nights,  Gen. 
Reed  returned,  and  I  never  saw  more  joy  expressed  than  was  by  Col. 
Bayard  ;  he  declaring  to  me,  that  he  was  glad  Gen.  Reed  was  retained, 
for  he  was  fully  convinced  in  his  own  mind,  that  he  was  gone  over  to  the 
enemy.  WILLIAM  BRADFORD. 

Manor  of  Mor eland,  Philadelphia  County,  March  15, 1763. 

Having  been  called  on  by  General  Cadwalader  respecting  a  report  which 
has  been  propagated  concerning  Mr.  Joseph  Reed — I  declare  en  my  honor, 
the  circumstances  are  as  follows.  In  the  spring  of  1780,  I  obtained  per 
mission  for  an  interview  with  my  brother  at  Elizabethtown.  In  the  course 
of  conversation,  one  day,  he  happened  to  mention  that  there  were  men 
among  us,  who  held  the  first  offices,  who  applied  for  protection  from  the 
British  while  they  lay  in  New  Jersey.  I  was  alarmed  at  this  assertion,  and 
insisted  on  knowing  who  they  were  ; — he  said,  that  when  the  British  army 
lay  in  Jersey,  in  1776,  Count  Donop  commanded  at  Bordenton  ;  that  he 
was  often  at  that  officer's  quarters,  and  possessed  some  degree  of  his  confi 
dence  ;  that  one  day,  an  inhabitant  came  into  their  lines,  with  an  applica 
tion  from  Mr.  Joseph  Reed,  the  purport  of  which  was,  to  know  whether 
he  could  have  protection  for  himself  and  his  proper y,  (there  was  another 
person  included  in  the  application  whose  name  it  is  not  neccessary  here 
to  mention.)  The  man  was  immediately  ordered  for  execution,  but  it  was 
prevented  by  the  interposition  of  my  brother  and  some  other  persons,  who 
had  formerly  known  him.  Perhaps  Mr.  Reed  and  his  friends  may  say,  that 
Count  Donop  would  not  have  ordered  the  man  executed,  had  he  not  thought 
he  came  for  intelligence.  No  doubt  that  officer  would  have  justified  his  con 
duct,  by  putting  upon  the  footing1  of  aspy,  but  why  wasanother  person  included 
in  the  application,  and  one  who  was  not  looked  on  as  a  trifling  character ;  his 
name  I  will  mention  to  any  one  who  will  apply  to  me  ;  however,  my  bro 
ther  said,  the  man  who  was  sent  with  the  application  was  a  poor  peasant,  and 
the  most  unfit  person  in  the  world  to  send  for  intelligence  ;  this  argument 
was  what  had  weight  with  Count  Donop,  and  which  saved  his  life.*  These 

*  If  the  countryman  was  sent,  as  he  insinuated,  for  intelligence,  and  not  fora 
protection  for  Mr.  ft  fed  and  his  friend,  is  it  not  very  extraordinary,  in  a  case  of 
this  nature,  after  the  man  had  so  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life,  that  no  circuin- 


22 

•circumstances  being  mentioned  by  a  brother,  and  which  he  declared  to  i>e 
true,  naturally  produced  an  alteration  in  my  sentiments  of  Mr.  Reed ;  for 
previous  to  this,  there  were  few  men  of  whom  I  entertained  BO  high  an 
opinion.  On  my  return  to  Philadelphia,  I  made  no  secret  of  what  1  heard  ; 
indeed,  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  mention  it  publicly,  that  it  might  prevent 
fur!  her  power  being  put  into  the  hands  of  a  man  who  might  make  a  bad 
use  of  it.  The  report  circulated  daily,  and  I  was  often  called  on  to  men 
tion  the  circumstances,  which  I  always  did,  and  which  [  should  have  done 
to  Mr.  Reed,  had  he  applied  to  me.  I  remember,  among  the  number  who 
came  to  me,  was  Major  Thomas  Moore,  who  said  he  intended  to  inform  Mr. 
Roed,  but  whether  he  did  or  not,  I  cannot  pretend  to  say. 

There  is  another  thing  1  wish  to  mention.  My  brother  came  into  the 
river  in  a  flag  of  truce,  on  special  application  of  our  commissary  of  prison 
ers,  to  take  a  number  of  prisoners  who  were  exchanged,  to  save  us  the  ex 
pense  and  trouble  of  sending  them  by  land  ;  this  was  in  the  month  of  May, 
1781.  He  was  detained,  about  nine  miles  below  the  city,  upwards  of  four 
weeks,  and  never  permitted  to  visit  it,  although  application  was  made  for 
that  purpose,  by  several  captains  of  vessels,  who  had  been  prisoners,  and  to 
whom  he  had  rendered  civilities.  I  declined  making  application  myself, 
as  I  supposed  my  being  in  the  service  from  the  commencement  of  the  war, 
and  having  endured  a  rigorous  confinement  for  eighteen  months,  in  the 
worst  of  times,  to  have  been  sufficient  to  have  obtained  permission  fora 
brother  to  have  been  in  my  house,  in  preference  to  a  cabin  in  a  small  ves 
sel  in  a  river; — however,  I  endeavoured  to  make  his  situation  as  agreea 
ble  as  possible,  by  visiting  him  often,  and  by  taking  my  friends  with  me. 
I  REMEMBER  Col.  Francis  Nichols  went  with  me,  one  day,  to  whom  my 
brother  mentioned  Mr.  Reed's  intended  desertion,  and  who,  1  doubt  not, 
will  acknowledge  it,  on  any  person's  applying  to  him  ;  he  is  at  present  in 
Virginia,  but  is  expected  in  town  in  a  tew  days.  DAVID  LENNOX. 

Having  been  called  upon,  hy  General  Cadvvalader,  to  certify,  so  far  as 
my  knowledge  extends,  as  to  the  matter  hereinafter  mentioned,  I  do  de 
clare,  that  in  the  spring  of  the  year  1781,  I  went  with  Major  Lennox,  of 
this  city,  on  board  of  a  flag  of  truce  vessel,  then  lying  in  the  river  Dela 
ware,  where  she  had  arrived  from  New  York,  and  heard  Mr.  Robert  Len 
nox,  deputy  commissary  of  prisoners  under  the  British  king,  say,  that  in 
the  year  of  1776,  a  person  had  arrived  at  Count  Donop's  quarters,  near 
Bordentown,  in  New  Jersey,  who  told  the  Count,  that  he  had  been  sent  to 

stance  relating  to  so  delicate  an  affair,  (transacted  in  so  private  a  manner)  shouM 
ever  have  come  to  my  knowledge,  till  I  heard  this  testimony  from  Major  Lennox  1 
I  will  venture  to  say  that  no  officer  of  the  army,  at  that  critical  period,  would 
have  risked  his  reputation,  though  he  had  afforded  no  oau-e  to  suspect  his  film- 
ness,  by  instructing  a  spy  to  apply  for  a  protection  for  him,  with  a  view  of  gain 
ing  intelligence,  without  mentioning  it  to  Ins  commanding  officer  brfore  the  trans 
action.  But  in  the  instance  before  us,  it  is  woithy  notice,  that  in  so  critical  a 
situa'ion  of  public  affairs,  Mr.  Reed,  knowing  how  dangerous  such  a  plea  as  the 
messenger  had  used  might  prove  to  his  reputation,  in  the  hands  cf  the  enemy, 
should  not  have  endeavored  to  obviate  such  a  tale,  by  mentioning  the  circum 
stances  to  the  commanding  officer  at  Bristol,  who  might  have  vouched  for  hit* 
innocence,  incase  Donop  should  attempt  to  injure  him  afterwards. 


23 

him  by  Gen.  Rood  and  another  person,  whose  name  1  do  not  think 
sary  to  mention,  to  procure  a  protection  for  them  ;  that  the  Count  refused 
to  grant  them  a  protection  in  that  manner,  and  was  about  to  treat  the  per 
son  who  had  applied  to  him  as  a  spy,  hut  was  prevented  by  the  entreaties 
of  the  said  Robert  Lennox,  and  some  other  gentlemen. 

Philadelphia,  11  th  March,  1783.  FKAI\7CIS  NICHOLS. 

Here,  then,  it  fully  appears,  that  the  testimony  contained  in  the  above 
certificates,  all  point  to  the  same  object,  and  to  the  same  period  mentioned 
by  me,  supporting1  and  confirming1  each  other.  They  likewise  clearly 
prove  the  whole  pro_ress  of  your  meditated  defection  ;  they  prove  that  you 
deceived  me  by  those  professions,  by  which  1  had  been  induced  to  trust  to 
your  appearances  of  fidelity,  as  you  absolutely  made  an  application  for  a 
protection  to  Count  Donop,  in  which  an  intimate  Iriend  of  yours  was  in 
cluded. 

But  what  opinion  must  the  world  form  of  your  veracity,  when  you  arc 
detected  in  falsely  asserting1,  that  you  had  not  mentioned  such  sentiments 
to  your  most  intimate  f'rien  is  and  relations.  "  Is  it  not  utterly  incredible," 
you  say,  "  that  I  should  hold  such  communication  or  sentiment  fr  m  my 
most  intimate  friends  and  relations,  and  mako  it  to  a  person  with  whom  I 
had  held  no  friendship  for  many  years ;  who  had  received  me  wifh  cold 
ness."  Mr.  Pettit  is  your  relation,  and  Col.  Bayard  your  most  intimate 
friend,  with  whom,  at  that  time,  you  had  the  freest  intercourse  To  these 
you  communicated  your  sentiments,  as  appears  by  the  certificates  of  Co!. 
Bradford,  Col  Ellis,  and  Mr.  Davenport;  but  your  friend,  hinted  at  in 
Major  Lennox's  certificate,  had  consented  to  accompany  you  in  your  in 
tended  desertion.  The  height  of  your  iniquity  does  not  end  here ;  you  en 
deavoured,  by  your  influence,  to  spread  general  disaffection,  in  order  to 
lessen  your  share  of  the  infamy,  by  dividing  it  among  many.  Had  you 
conferred  with  men  whose  principles  were  in  every  instance  like  your 
own,  you  might  have  succeeded,  as  every  person  concerned  might  have 
carried  off  his  particular  friend  with  him. 

If  all  the  evidence  which  now  appears  against  you,  had  been  produced 
at  that  tim<>,  what  would  have  bef-n  your  fate,  as  you  then,  (being  Adju 
tant-General  of  the  army,)  was  subject  to  the  Continental  articles  of  war  ? 

In  the  10th  page  you  say,  you  can  "truly  declare,  that  the  subject  of 
the  present  slander  was  not  known  to  you,  till  its  appearance  in  the  news 
paper."  Having  mentioned  it  at  the  Coffee  House,  (as  appears  by  Mr. 
Pryor's  certificate,)  in  the  presence  of  some  of  your  friends,  it  was  rea 
sonable  to  expect  they  would  have  informed  you  of  it;  but  it  seems  there 
is  some  difference  between  private  information  and  a  public  charge  made 
in  the  papers.  As  a  gentleman,  there  can,  in  my  opinion,  be  no  differ 
ence  ;  as  you  say,  in  your  letter  of  the  9th  Sept.  last,  that  this  insinuation 
seems  to  deserve  some  credit  from  a  reference  tj  me.  You  insinuate,  that 
if  you  had  heard  it,  you  should  have  noticed  it.  To  this,  however,  the 
world  will  give  little  credit,  as  you  made  no  public  or  private  inquiry  re 
specting  the  charge  made  in  Major  Lennox's  certificate,  though  he  com 
municated  it  to  Major  Thomas  Moore,  son  of  the  late  President,  whoso 
permission  I  have  for  asserting  publicly,  that  he  informed  you  of  what 
'-  ••  f  ^.noy  hurl  related,  the  very  dny  he  hcurd  it. 


24 

The  matters  mentioned  in  Major  Lenox's  certificate,  and  in  that  ot  CoL 
Nichols  reach  vastly  heyond  me  ;  here  you  absolutely  apply  for  protection  ; 
and  if  one  report  demanded  your  notice,  in  reference  to  my  authorities, 
why  not  another,  more  alarming-  to  you,  your  notice  in  reference  to  Major 
Lenox  1 

But  the  consciousness  of  the  communications  made  to  confidential  friends, 
and  others,  suggested  the  fear  of  other  proofs.  As  long  as  it  was  only 
communicated  by  private  information,  you  were  willing  to  submit  to  pri 
vate  censure.  But  when  a  charge,  which  originated  from  me,  was  made 
in  the  papers,  it  reduced  you  to  the  disagreeable  alternative  of  a  tacit,  con 
fession,  or  the  hazard  of  public  proof.  And  in  the  present  instance,  if  1  am 
rightly  informed,  you  was  perfectly  disposed  to  treat  the  publication  signed 
Brutus,  with  that  "  silent  contempt,"  which,  you  say,  you  have  ibr  a  "  long 
time  observed,  with  respect,  to  the  anonymous  abuse  which  disgraces  our 
public  papers;"  but  your  friends,  feeling  the  weight  of  the  charge,  goaded 
you  into  so  unfortunate  a  measure.  "  Cnhappy  man !  against  whose 
peace  and  liapjiiness  all  are  combined,'''' 

What  answer  can  you  make  to  the  weight  of  testimony  here  produced 
against  you  ?  1  see  nothing  left,  but  to  declare  to  the  world,  that  the  whole- 
is  a  wicked  combination  to  destroy  you;  vou  rnav  soy,  "  you  thought  me, 
entitled  to  the  whole  infamy  of  the  insinuation,"  till  the  above  mentioned 
witnesses  "consented  to  divide  it  with  me;"  and  that,  "  if  you  did  not 
sufficiently  measure  the  malignancy  of  their  dispositions,  or  thought  more 
favorably  of  them  than  you  ought  to  have  done,  you  are  content  to  ac 
knowledge  your  error,  and  do  full  justice  in  this  respect  hereafter;"  and 
if  any  person  should  ask  you,  would  all  these  gentlemen  hazard  such  as 
sertions  without  foundation  ?  you  rnav  answer,  "  it  is  difficult  to  resolve 
what  men  of  ungovernable  passions  will  or  will  not  say,  when  their  minds 
are  inflamed  by  party,  and  their  breasts  burning  with  disappointed  ambi 
tion  ;"  may  they  not  have  »«  mistaken  a.  conversation  with  some  other  per 
son,  or  at  this  distance  of  time,  converted  some  JOCULAR  KXPUKSSION  into 
such  suspicions  as  they  have  mentioned  ;"  and  you  may  add,  "  the  MEMO- 
KIKS  of  MEN  may  fail ;  their  minds  are  subject  to  the  warp  of  prejudice 
and  passion ;  they  may  convert  into  serious  import  what  was  dropped  in 
JEST;  and,  from  false  pride,  persist,  in  what  they  have  said,  been  use  they 
have  said  it,  even  against  the  conviction  of  their  own  consciences." 

In  your  letter  of  the  23d  of  September  last,  ycu  say,  "  you  have  declared 
the  insinuations  in  Oswald's  paper  of  the  7th  inst.  false;  and  you  apply 
the  same  epithet  to  my  avowal  of  them."  This  assertion  has  been  fully 
refuted  by  the  concurrent  testimony  of  your  intimate  friends  and  others5. 
In  your  friends,  you  thought  yourself  perfectly  secure  ;  but  the  weakness 
of  two  of  them  has  be.lniyed  you,  and  the  third  is  proved  your  accomplice. 

ft  would,  incloed,  have  appeared  somewhat  extraordinary,  if  you  hud  not. 
discovered  your  intentions  to  some  of  your  intimate  friends  and  relations ; 
and  that  "  no  circumstance  should  occur  to  correspond  with  this  imputa 
tion,"  a  ter  having  communicated  the  same  to  me.  Nor  are  proofs  want 
ing,  if  they  were  here  necessary,  independently  of  those  I  have  already 
adduced,  wiih  respect  to  some  of  your  friends,  who  at  that  time  held  con 
siderable  commands  in  the  militia. 

And  "though  specially  sent  by  General  Washington,"  as  you  pay,  "  for 


25 

the  express  purpose  ot%  assisting  rue/*  it  may  not  be  here  improper  to  make 
a  short  observation,  in  which  1  conceive  I  shall  be  perfectly  justifiable. 
Though  the  duties  of  an  Adjutant  General  would  naturally  confine  you  to 
the  Continental  army,  yet  I  can  easily  conceive,  that  there  was  no  diffi 
culty,  by  hints  thrown  out,  or  by  the  interposition  of  a  friend,  to  induce  the 
commander-in-chief  to  permit  you  to  come  to  Bristol,  under  the  pretence 
of  assisting  me  ;  being,  as  you  represent,  well  acquainted  with  the  inha 
bitants  of  Burlington,  through  whom  you  might  obtain  information.  But 
from  the  evidence  which  appears  against  you,  it  will  not  be  thought  un 
charitable  to  conclude,  that  you  conceived  your  plan  could  be  better  exe 
cuted  at  Bristol,  than  under  the  eye  of  General  Washington.  Besides, 
you  might  reasonably  hope  to  shake  more  easily  the  constancy  of  untried 
officers  of  militia,  than  those  in  the  army,  whose  minds  might  be  sup* 
posed  better  fortified  against  such  attacks. 

I  am  at  a  loss  for  words  to  express  my  indignation  for  the  attempt  you 
made  on  rny  integrity^  for  though  I  did  not  see  it  in  that  point  of  view  at 
the  time,  yet  the  whole  testimony,  as  now  collected,  fully  proves  such  to 
have  been  your  intention  ;  and  happy  1  conceive  it  to  be  for  my  own  honor 
and  the  safety  of  my  country,  that  you  found  in  me  that  strength  of  mind, 
which  you  might  not  have  experienced  in  some  of  your  particular  friends, 
had  they  been  in  my  situation. 

The  circumstance  relating  to  the  letter  you  wrote  Count  Donop,  cre 
ated  at  the  time  no  suspicions;  nor  do  I  recollect  any  publication  which 
alludes  to  it.  This  affair,  and  that  mentioned  by  Major  Lennox,  are  dis 
tinct  transactions ;  but  is  it  not  more  than  probable,  that  at  the  interview 
you  proposed  under  cover  of  serving  the  inhabitants  of  Burlington,  you  in 
tended  to  confer  with  Count  Donop  upon  the  subject  of  your  own  interest 
and  persenal  safety.  This  suspicion,  in  my  opinion,  is  perfectly  warranted 
by  the  i-idubitable  proofs  of  your  intended  desertion.  Another  circum 
stance  relating  to  this  affair  was  equally  unusual  and  improper.  Mr. 
Daniel  Ellis,*  by  whom  you  sent  the  letter  with  a  flag,  was  universally 
•known  to  be  disaffected  ;  having  been  so  long  in  the  service  you  could  not 
be  ignorant  of  those  obvious  reasons,  which  prove  the  propriety  of  sending 
men  with  flags,  whose  attachment  to  the  cause  is  well  known,  and  men 
•of  observation. 

Every  page,  almost,  of  your  publication  is  full  of  reflections  against  me, 
and  almost  upon  every  subject ;  so  intent  have  you  been  to  injure  my  re 
putation.  The  errors  I  committed  during  my  command  may  serve  a  double 
purpose ;  because  he  who  committed  them  is  subject  to  censure,  and  he 
who  points  them  out  claims  the  merit  of  the  discovery.  That  I  committed 
errors,  I  readily  admit ;  my  friends  have  marked  some,  and  subsequent  ex 
perience  discovered  others;  but  I  am  conscious  they  proceeded  from  want 
of  experience,  not  a  want  of  integrity.  Why,  then,  need  I  seek  to  justify 
myself,  when,  from  the  nature  of  the  war,  considerable  commands  were, 
from  necessity,  entrusted  to  young  officers,  there  being  few  amongst  us  to 
whom  the  profession  was  not  entirely  new.  But,  I  confess,  it  would  give 
me  infinite  pain,  if,  by  "  a  strange  inattention  of  mine  to  the  tide  arid  state 

*  I  have  ample  proofs  of  Mr.  Ellis's  attachment  to  the  enemy,  which  may  be 
produced,  if  necessary. 

4 


26 

of  the  river,"  and  the  not  arriving1  "  one  hour"  sooner  at  Dunk's  Ferry. 
we  had  lost  the  opportunity  of  striking  a  blow  at  Mount  Holly,  of  equal 
glory  with  that  at  Trenton.  When  you  insinuated,  in  the  former  part  of 
your  address,  a  superior  knowledge  in  military  matters,  by  saying  you  had 
more  «» experience,"  1  gave  up  the  point,  and  left  you  the  happiness  of 
thinking  so ;  for  why  should  I  have  contended  a  point  with  a  man  who, 
throughout  his  pamphlet,  assumes  to  himself  the  merit  of  all  these  bril 
liant  successes,  so  highly  commended  even  by  our  enemies,  and  which 
determined  the  fate  of  American  independence.  And  if  I  was  sensible 
that  the  charge  you  now  make  was  true,  or  could  be  thought  so,  by  com 
petent  judges,  I  would  scorn  to  defend  my  error. 

My  orders  were,  to  make  the  attack  one  hour  before  day,  and  to  effect 
a  surprise,  if  possible.  The  impropriety,  therefore,  of  sending  the  boats 
from  Bristol  to  Dunk's  Ferry,  and  marching  the  troops  from  the  same 
place  in  open  day,  is  evident,  as  such  a  movement  must  have  been  ob 
served,  and  communicated  to  the  enemy.  And  now,  tell  me  the  instance, 
where  even  continental  troops  have  arrived  at  the  point  of  attack  at  the 
given  time  ?  It  was  General  Washington's  intention  to  have  made  his 
attack  on  Trenton  before  day  ;  yet,  from  unavoidable  delays,  he  did  not 
arrive  there  till  after  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning.  We  reached  Dunk's 
Ferry  a  little  before  low  water,  and  can  any  person  believe,  that  if  we  had 
arrived  "one  hour  sooner,"  we  could  have  passed  over  near  twenty-five 
hundred  men,  four  pieces  of  cannon,  ammunition  wagons  and  horses,  and 
all  the  horses  belonging  to  officers,  in  that  time,  in  the  night  too,  and  the 
river  full  of  ice,  with  only  five  large  batteaus  and  two  or  three  scows ; 
when  it  took  us  at  least  six  hours,  (a  day  or  two  afterwards,)  to  cross 
above  Bristol,  in  open  day  and  the  river  almost  clear  of  ice.  Strange  "  in 
attention,"  unhappy  commander !  That  "  a  single  hour,  which  we  might 
have  enjoyed  with  equal  convenience  and  equal  risk,"  should  be  the  only 
obstacle  to  a  scene  of  equal  glory  with  that  of  Trenton,  and  yet  you  have 
represented  to  General  Washington,  as  appears  by  his  letter,*  doted  six 
o'clock,  P.  M.  25th  December,  1776,  to  me,  being  the  very  same  night, 
and  before  we  marched  to  Dunk's  Ferry,  that  you  gave  him  the  most  dis 
couraging  accounts  of  what  might  be  expected  from  our  operations  below. 
What,  then,  were  those  discouraging  accounts  ?  Why  was  I  not  acquainted 
with  them  ?  or  were  they  thrown  out  to  influence  him  from  making  his 
attempt  on  Trenton,  by  representing  that  no  co-operation  from  our  quarter 
could  favor  his  enterprise  ?•  In  the  General's  opinion,  it  is  plain,  it  had  that 
tendency.  But  in  the  heedless  fury  of  this  stroke  at  me,  you  have  incau 
tiously  unguarded  your  most  tender  part 

'*  Anxious  to  fill  up  the  part  of  this  glorious  plan  assigned  to  us,"  you 
-"  passed  over,  you  say,  with  your  horse,  to  see  and  judge  for  yourself." 

*  M'Kenkcifg  Ferry,  25/A  December,  1776,  6  o'clock,  P.M. 
Dear  Sar, — Notwithstanding  the  discouraging  accounts  I  have  received  from 
CoL  Reed,  of  what  might  he  expected  from  the  operations  below,  I  am  determined, 
us  (the  night  is  favorable,  to  cross  the  river,  and  make  the  attack  on  Trenton  in 
the  morning.  If  vou  can  do  nothing  real,  at  least  create  as  great  a  diversion  as 
possible.  I  am,  sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

GE4X  WASHINGTON. 


27 

You  did  so.  "  Having  seen  the  last  man  re-embarked,  you  proceeded  be 
fore  day  to  Burlington."  Here  permit  me  to  correct  you,  because  there 
is  no  circumstance  better  ascertained,  than  that  many  of  the  men  were 
not  brought  back  till  eight  o'clock  the  next  morning. 

Your  motives  for  going  to  Burlington  that  night,  were  then  thought  a 
mystery ;  'tis  now  no  longer  so ;  and  the  "  other  circumstances,"  that 
.permitted  you  to  join  us  ag;iin  at  Bristol,  are  now  clearly  accounted  for. 
General  VVashington's  success  or  defeat  was,  no  doubt,  to  determine  whe 
ther  you  were  to  remain  a  oitizen  of  the  United  States  of  America,  or  to 
be  a  shameful  deserter  of  your  country. 

You  say,  you  went  to  Philadelphia,  at  my  request,  to  confer  with  Gen. 
Putnam ;  that  you  set  out  in  the  evening,  (the  24th  December,)  and 
reached  Philadelphia  about  midnight ;  but  what  credit,  can  you  reasonably 
expect,  will  be  given  to  your  "  detail  of  proceedings,"  in  other  particulars, 
when  you  find  yourself  detected  in  such  gross  contradictions  in  the  follow 
ing  instance  f 

In  the  17th  page  you  soy,  "  Upon  conference  with  General  Putnam,  (at 
Philadelphia,)  he  represented  the  state  of  the  militia,  the  general  confu 
sion  which  prevailed,  his  apprehensions  of  an  insurrection  in  the  city  in 
his  absence,  and  many  other  circumstances,  in  such  strong  terms,  as  con 
vinced  me,  no  assistance  could  be  derived  from  him ;"  and  yet,  in  your 
tetter  to  me,  dated  Philadelphia,  25th  December,  1776,  11  o'clock, 
you  say ;  "  General  Putnam  has  determined  to  cross  the  river,  with  as 
many  men  as  he  can  collect,  which,  he  says,  wil!  be  about  five  hundred  ; 
he  is  now  mustering  them,  and  endeavoring  to  get  Proctor's  company  of 
artillery  to  go  with  them.  I  wait  to  know  what  success  he  meets  with, 
and  the  progress  he  makes ;  but,  at  all  events,  1  shall  be  with  you  this 
afternoon." 

Here  the  representation  stated  in  your  pamphlet  is  contradicted  by  a 
letter  in  your  own  handwriting.  Having  forgot,  perhaps,  that  you  had 
written  such  a  letter,  your  ingenuity  furnished  materials  for  a  plausible 
narrative,  suitable  to  your  purposes ;  not  suspecting  that  such  proof  could 
be  adduced  in  opposition  to  it. 

Having  returned  to  Bristol  about  daylight  on  the  26th  December,  with 
the  greater  part  of  the  troops,  I  received  an  account,  aboul  11  o'clock  A.M. 
from  a  person  just  arrived  from  Trenton  Ferry,  that  General  Washington 
had  succeeded  in  his  attack.  1  immediately  despatched  a  messenger  with 
a  line  to  General  Ewing,  for  information,  but  all  1  could  learn  was,  that 
the  victory  was  ours. 

From  the  continuance  of  the  rain  and  wind,  I  concluded  the  ice  mast  be 
destroyed  in  the  course  of  the  day,  and  instantly  sent  down  to  Dunk's 
Ferry  for  the  boats,  This  being  an  extra oidi nary  service,  required  of  men 
who  had  been  exposed  to  the  storm  the  whole  night,  was,  however,  cheer 
fully  undertaken  and  executed.  I  then  consulted  Col.  Hitchcock,  who 
commanded  the  New  England  brigade,  to  know  whether  his  troops  would 
willingly  accompany  us  to  New  Jersey,  as  I  had  determined  to  cross  the 
river  in  the  morning,  if  practicable,  to  co-operate  with  General  Washing 
ton.  He  informed  me,  that  his  troops  could  not  march,  unless  they  could 
be  supplied  with  shoes,  stockings  and  breeches;  upon  which  I  instantly 
wrote  to  the  Council  of  Safety,  and  obtained  seven  hundred  pairs  of  each 


28 

of  the  above  articles,  which  arrived  about  sunrise  on  the  morning  of  the 
27th  December.  This  second  attempt  being  determined  on,  1  went  with 
several  officers,  in  the  afternoon  of  the  26th,  to  fix  upon  a  proper  place  for 
crossing  the  river  above  Bristol,  and  the  next  morning  before  day  viewed  the 
Jersey  Shore  in  a  barge,  for  the  same  purpose.  By  your  relation,  one  would 
imagine  you  had  been  the  life  and  soul  of  this  second  movement  across 
the  Delaware, — as  little  privy  to  it  as  the  emperor  of  Morocco, — but  it  is 
no  unusual  thing  for  you  to  intercept  the  praise  due  to  others  of  creditable 
actions.  Instead  of  being  present  to  confirm  my  proposed  movements,  by 
your  advice,  you  remained  "at  Burlington,  "in  a  kind  of  concealment,  till 
the  weather  and  OTHER  CIRCUMSTANCES  permitted  you  to  join  us  at  Bris 
tol,"  after  all  our  resolutions  were  taken,  and  the  most  of  our  arrange 
ments  made.  In  the  tissue  of  your  representation?,  it  is  your  purposa  to 
insinuate  my  deficiency  in  military  conduct  in  the  subsequent  transaction?. 
Let  my  relation  of  it  be  heard  ! 

We  marched  on  the  27th,  in  the  morning,  and  the  ice  being  by  this 
time  chiefly  destroyed,  we  met  with  little  obstruction  in  passing.  The 
last  division  of  the  troops  being  embarked,  and  then  crossing,  we  received 
private  information,  that  General  Washington  had  recrossed  the  river,  and 
returned  to  Newtown,  in  Pennsylvania,  from  whence  he  dates  his  letter, 
27th  December,  1776,  informing  me  of  the  particulars  of  the  action  at 
Trenton,  and  which  was  not  received,  contrary  to  your  assertion,  till  we 
had  marched  above  a  mile  on  our  way  to  Burlington  ;  it  was  then  read  to 
the  troops,  who  were  halted  for  this  purpose.  We  had,  however,  before 
given  full  credit  to  the  first  information  of  his  having  recrossed  ;  on  which 
previous  information  I  called  together  the  field  officers,  to  consult  what 
was  then  best  to  be  done.  From  this  circumstance,  Col.  Hitchcock,  and 
some  others,  proposed  returning  to  Bristol.  I  instantly  declared  my  de 
termination  against  it,  and  recommended  an  attack  upon  Mount  Holly,  as 
from  the  information  we  had  of  the  force  at  that  post,  we  might  easily 
carry  it,  and  should  then  have  a  retreat  open  towards  Philadelphia,  if  ne 
cessary.  You  then,  "  as  a  middle  course,1'  advised  our  going  to  Burling 
ton  ;  in  which  those  who  had  at  first  proposed  our  return,  joined  in  opin 
ion.  This  was  the  true  cause  of  that  hesitation  you  remarked  with  re 
spect  to  me.  Burlington  was  in  a  position,  in  my  judgment,  very  danger 
ous  ;  as  in  case  we  should  be  invested  there,  and  the  river  impassable,  we 
should  be  forced  to  submit  at  discretion,  for  want  of  provisions,  or  hazard 
an  action  against  troops  superior  in  discipline,  and  perhaps  in  number,  if 
their  whole  force  was  collected  to  that  point.  Having  no  other  retreat 
open  to  us,  but  that  over  the  river,  it  was  evident  this  could  not  be  effect 
ed  without  the  loss,  at  least,  of  those  who  might  be  ordered  to  cover  the 
retreat.  Having  passed  the  river  in  open  day,  it  was  probable  the  enemy 
might  be  informed  of  it;  and,  in  that  case,  the  post  at  Mount  Holly  rein 
forced.  To  determine  whether  we  should  take  a  position,  unanimously  ap 
proved  by  the  council,  but  which  I  thought  extremely  dangerous ;  or  ad- 
iiere  to  my  own  plan,  unsupported  by  a  single  voice,  was  certainly  a  ques 
tion  that  required  more  than  a  momentary  consideration,  even  for  an 
officer,  at  this  stage  of  the  war.  Being  pressed  for  some  resolution,  as 
the  day  was  far  spent,  I  waived  my  own  opinion,  and  acquiesced  in  the 
<i*?gjrc  ofmarfhing  to  Burlington ;  but  it  is  ridiculous  to  suppose,  as  you 


29 

say,  that  yout  brother's  intelligence  of  Count  Donop's  retreat,  couid  have 
influenced  my  acquiescence,  for  it  did  not  arrive  till  after  our  resolutions 
were  taken, — and  besides,  was  not  credited;  because,  if  it  had  reached 
us  before,  and  been  credited,  I  should  not  have  acquiesced  in  such  desire ; 
if  even  after,  I  should  naturally  have  taken  another  course,  and  pursued 
the  flying  enemy,  instead  of  going  to  Burlington,  which  was  five  miles  in 
the  rear. 

Late  that  night,  I  received  certain  information,  that  the  enemy  had  eva 
cuated  all  their  posts  in  the  neighborhood,  and  immediately  despatched  a 
messenger  to  General  Washington  with  the  intelligence;  in  answer  to 
which,  I  received  his  orders,  very  early  next  morning,  to  pursue  and  keep 
up  the  panic,  and  that  he  would  cross  at  Trenton  that  day.  From  this 
circumstance,  it  appears  that  the  General  had  taken  his  determination 
before  your  pretended  information  or  advice  from  Trenton  couid  have 
reached  him. 

In  justification  of  myself,  I  have  thought  it  necessary  to  point  out  your 
false  state  of  facts,  in  these  particulars;  the  multitude  of  lesser  ones,  re 
lating  to  military  matters,  I  shall  pass  over,  as  this  publication  is  already 
necessarily  lengthened  beyond  my  first  intention. 

As  I  hinted,  in  my  letter  of  10th  t^eptember  last,  that  "charges  of  the 
same  nature  had  been,  some  time  since,  made  against  you,"  by  Arnold  ; 
you  say,  you  "  allow  full  weight  to  so  respectable  a  connexion  and  testi 
mony  ;"  to  which  you  made  no  reply,  though  from  the  rank  and  character 
of  Arnold  at  that  time,  they  merited  your  notice.  Arnold  having  received 
his  information  from  me,  it  cannot  be  concluded,  that  I  meant  by  his  testi 
mony  to  strengthen  my  own  assertion ;  but  merely  to  show,  that  having 
before  been  charged,  you  did  not  reply ;  from  which  many  believed  it 
true.  And  when  he  apologized  to  me  for  inserting  it  in  his  defence  with 
out  my  permission,  I  remarked,  that  an  apology  was  unnecessary,  from 
the  public  manner  in  which  I  had  mentioned  it. 

Arnold  was  commanding  officer  in  this  city,  very  generally  visited  by 
officers  of  the  army,  citizens  and  strangers.  I  received  the  usual  civilities 
from  him,  and  returned  them  ;  and  often  met  him  at  the  tables  of  gentle 
men  in  the  city.  To  my  civilities,  at  that  time,  I  thought  him  entitled, 
from  the  signal  services  he  had  rendered  his  country ;  services  infinitely 
superior  to  those  you  so  much  boast, of;  he  stood  high,  as  a  military  cha 
racter,  even  in  France,  and  after  your  prosecution,  he  was  continued  in 
command  by  Congress ;  appointed  first,  by  the  commander-in-chief,  to  the 
command  of  the  left  wing  of  the  army,  and  afterwards  to  that  important 
post  of  West  Point,  where  his  treacherous  conduct  exceeded,  I  fancy,  even 
your  own  idea  of  his  baseness.  To  what,  then,  do  your  insinuations 
amount  1  They  cannot  criminate  me,  without  an  implied  censure  on 
Congress  and  the  commander-in-chief.  But  why  contaminate  my  name, 
by  connecting  it,  in  his  instance,  with  such  a  wretch  ?  when  you,  yourself, 
at  his  trial,  with  a  half-shamed  face,  seemed  to  apologize  for  being  his  pro 
secutor,  and  became  his  fulsome  panegyrist.  It  consisted,  however,  with 
that  artifice  and  cunning  which  has  ever  been  the  sum  of  your  abilities, 
and  the  whole  amount  of  your  wisdom. 

Your  remarks  on  my  letter  of  the  10th  December,  1777,  nre  so  incon- 
sietent,  that  I  shall  bestow  a  few  observations  on  them.  '•  So  strong  and 


30 

virulent,"  you  say,  "  was  my  antipathy  to  the  constitution,-  and  such  my 
enmity  to  those  who  administered  it,  that  you  believe  I  would  have  pre 
ferred  any  government  to  that  of  Pennsylvania,  if  my  person  and  property 
would  have  been  equally  secure ;"  and  yet  it  seems,  in  the  next  sentence 
you  say,  "  but  it  was  our  lot  to  meet  again,  a  few  days  before  the  battle 
of  Monmouth  ;  here  we  were  again  united  in  confidence  and  danger.'1'' 
If  you  really  thought  I  would  prefer  any  government  to  that  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  why  did  you  then  take  so  much  pains  to  show,  that  we  again  united 
in  "  confidence  and  danger"  at  the  battle'of  Monmouth,  so  many  months 
after  I  had  discovered  that  virulent  antipathy,  and  which  now  hath  ex 
torted  such  gross  reflections  1 

You  say,  my  breast  was  burning  with  disappointed  ambition  ;  but  how 
does  this  appear,  when,  immediately  upon  the  formation  of  the  new  go 
vernment,  I  was  appointed  the  first  of  three  brigadiers,  which  created  me 
commanding  officer  of  the  militia.  Could  my  ambition  be  gratified  fur 
ther  1  But  to  obviate  every  objection,  let  me  suppose  you  meant,  that  I 
wished  to  rise  to  power  in  the  civil  line, — which,  however,  has  never  been 
insinuated  before, — let  me  here  call  to  your  memory,  how  easy  the  task 
was  for  any  character  to  rise  to  the  first  offices  of  government.  I  confess, 
I  do  not  think  so  meanly  of  myself,  as  to  have  dreaded  any  rivalship  from 
some  of  the  candidates  of  those  days ;  nor  do  I  mean,  by  this  declaration, 
to  insinuate  any  extraordinary  merit,  when  I  estimate  mine  by  that  of 
those  I  have  alluded  to.  1  could  not  have  consented  to  make  the  sacri 
fices  required  ;  but  you,  however,  and  some  others,  as  much  opposed  to 
the  essential  parts  of  the  constitution  as  I  was,  freely  made  them,  and 
broke  through  every  obligation  of  faith  and  honor. 

The  charge  you  have  brought  against  a  party  in  the  staSe,  of  an  opposi 
tion  to  its  constitution,  deserves  some  attention.  I  will  digress  a  little 
from  my  main  subject  to  examine  how  far  this  charge  is  true,  and  how  tar 
the.  thing  is  in  itself  criminal. 

Government  is  generally  so  reverenced  among  men,  that  those  who  at 
tempt  to  subvert  any  system  of  it  whatever,  have  to  contend  against  a 
very  natural  prejudice.  But  this  prejudice  can  only  be  in  degree  with  the 
antiquity  of  its  establishment ;  for  modern  error,  how  high  soever  its  au 
thority,  has  but  little  claim  to  our  veneration.  This  concession  made,  could 
it  be  expected  that  our  novel  constitution,  liable  at  first  blush  to  so  many 
important  objections,  should  not  have  its  opponents ;  but  that  in  a  moment 
it  should  be  submitted  to,  as  implicitly  as  if  it  had  had  the  sanction  of  ages  1 
What  circumstance  was  there,  in  the  production  of  this  whimsical  ma 
chine,  that  should  silence,  at  once,  all  the  remonstrances  of  reason  and 
sense  against  it  1  Was  it  not  worth  a  pause  to  examine,  whether  this  coat, 
wove  for  ages,  would  fit  us  or  our  posterity  before  we  put  on  ;  or  whether 
this  gift  of  our  convention  would  not  prove  our  destruction  1  From  an  ap 
prehension  that  it  would,  an  opposition  was  formed,  that  included  a  majo 
rity  of  the  state.  Did  those  who  composed  it,  think  it  criminal  to  prevent 
the  singular  ideas  of  a  convention,  from  being  carried  into  execution, 
against  an  almost  general  sentiment;  or  did  they  not  rather  conceive  it 
safer  and  better  for  the  community,  still  to  go  on  in  the  administration  of 
governmental  affair?,  by  those  temporary  expedients  we  had  been  in  the 
habits  of,  until  their  constitution  could  b§  revised  * 


3L 

This  idea,  patriotic  as  it  was,  was  defeated  by  the  obstinate  enthusinam 
••of  some,  who  trembled  for  this  New  Jerusalem  of  their  hopes,  and  by  the 
scandalous  desertion  of  others,  and  especially  yourself.  The  ends  of  op 
position  being  thus  rendered  unattainable,  but  at  the  hazard  of  convulsions, 
that  might  endanger  the  great  American  cause,  the  same  virtue  that  be 
gan  it,  ended  it,  and  it  has  long  since  ceased  to  act. 

This  is  a  well-known  state  of  facts  ;  but  what  it  did  not  suit  with  your 
•own  by-purposes  to  admit,  could  not  be  expected  from  your  integrity  ^  you 
have,  therefore,  constantly  kept  up  the  alarm  of  a  constitutional  opposition, 
and,  on  every  occasion,  referred  to  this, false  cause,  that  honest  and  useful 
•opposition  which  was  created  by  your  weak,  though  violent  and  tyrannical 
administration. 

That  you  was  called  to  the  chair  of  government,  by  the  unanimous  vote 
of  council  and  assembly,  you  have  often  boasted,  with  a  view  of  conveying 
to  the  world  an  idea,  that  even  the  gentlemen  opposed  to  the  constitution 
approved  the  choice.  But  they  neither  esteemed  you  as  a  gentleman,  nor 
approved  your  public  conduct.  Tney  knew  there  was  a  majority  in  assem 
bly  in  favor  of  your  election,  and  as  their  grand  object  was  the  obtaining 
a  resolution  of  that  body,  recommending  the  calling  a  convention  for  revis 
ing  the  constitution,  some  of  the  party  entered  into  an  engagement  lor  this 
, purpose,  and  your  election  was  negotiated.  You  were  to  use  your  en 
deavours  to  prevail  on  the  Counc  1  to  enforce  the  recommendation  of  the 
assembly,  by  a  similar  resolution  From  your  own  acknowledgment  at 
the  City  Tavern,  the  resolution  of  the  Council  was  never  obtained,  or  even 
moved  for,  by  you,  arid  for  this  flimsy  reason,  that  no  formal  information, 
of  such  resolution  having  passed,  had  been  communicated  to  you  ;  though 
known  to  all  the  world;  and  that  it  could  not  be  expected  that  Council 
would  "  tag"  after  the  assembly,  in  a  measure  relating  to  the  public.  Yet 
you  had  the  effrontery  to  assert,  that  "  every  engagement  on  your  part," 
was  strictly  performed. 

At  this  meeting,  you  say,  you  "  in  the  most  open  manner  called  upon 
us,  to  support  our  imputations,  and  that  you  so  effectually  vindicated  every 
part  of  your  conduct,  that  every  gentleman,  (myself  excepted,)  acknow 
ledged  his  mistake."  I  own  I  made  no  concessions,  and  if  the  reasons  I 
then  gave  are  not  thought  a  sufficient  justification  to  the  world,  of  the 
•opinion  I  had  formed,  I  am  content  to  admit  that  it  was  not  only  "  singu 
lar,"  but  "  absurd." 

After  a  reasonable  pause,!  remarked, that  from  the  repeated  conversations 
I  had  had  with  you,  on  this  subject,  you  appeared  to  me  as  much  opposed 
as  I  was,  to  the  constitution,  before  the  evacuation  of  the  city  ;  that  you 
had  refused  to  accept  the  appointment  of  Chief  Justice,  (because  you  could 
not  in  conscience  take  the  oatli  ;*)  that  a  short  time  before  the  election,  in 

*  The  following  extracts  from  General  Reed's  letter  to  his  Excellency  tho 
President,  and  the  Honorable  the  Executive  Council  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania, 
dated  Philadelphia,  22d  July,  1777,  assigning  his  reasons  for  not  accepting  the 
office  of  Chief  Justice,  may  serve  to  prove  his  opinions  of  the  constitution  at  that 
time.  "  If  there  is  any  radical  weakness  of  authority  proceeding  from  the  Con 
stitution  ;  if  in  any  respects  it  opposes  the  genius,  temper  or  habits  of  the  go- 
r  /•„„,.  u>iJ<j3v  a  remedy  can  be  provided,  in  less  than  seven  years,  tfft 


1778,  you  engaged  yourself  lo  the  constitutional  party,  to  serve  in  Council 
for  the  County,  and  to  the  party  in  the  opposition,  to  serve  in  Assembly  for 

vernment  will  sink  in  a  f-piritless  languor,  or  expire  in  a  sudden  CONVULSION. 
It  would  be  foreign  to  my  present  purpose  to  suggest  any  of  those  alterations, 
which,  in  my  apprehension,  are  necessary  to  enable  the  constitution  to  support  itself 
wiih  dignity  and  efficiency,  and  its  friends  with  security.  Tliat  some  are  neces 
sary  I  cannot  entertain  the  least  doubt.  With  this  sentiment,  I  feel  an  insupe 
rable  difficulty  to  enter  into  an  engagement  of  the  most  solemn  nature,  leading 
to  Ihe  support  and  confirmation  of  an  entire  system  of  government,  which  lean- 
not  wholly  approve."  Again,  "  the  dispensation  from  this  engagement,*  first 
allowed  to  several  members  of  the  Assembly,  and  afterwards  to  the  militia  offi 
cers,  has  added  to  my  difficulties,  as  I  cannot  reconcile  it  to  my  ideas  of  propriety, 
the  members  of  the  same  state  being  under  diffeient  obligations  to  support  and 
enforce  its  authority."  But  he  adds,  "  If  the  sense  of  the  people,  who  have  the 
right  of  decision,  leads  to  some  alterations,  I  firmly  believe  it  will  conduce  to  our 
happiness  and  security  ;  if  otherwise,  [  shall  esteem  it  my  duty,  not  only  to  ac 
quiesce,  but  to  support,  as  far  as  lays  in  my  power,  a  form  of  government  con 
firmed  and  sanctified  by  the  voice  of  the  people.'  Here,  then,  he  says,  "  he  feels 
an  insuperable  difficulty  to  enter  into  an  engagement  of  the  most  solemn  nature, 
leading  to  the  support  and  confirmation  of  an  entire  system  of  government,  which 
he  cannot  wholly  approve ;  but  he  shall  think  it  his  duty  to  acquiesce,  and  sup 
port  the  government, — if  confirmed  and  sanctified  by  the  voice  of  the  people." 
How  inconsistent,  then,  must  his  conduct  appear,  when  it  is  notorious,  that  he 
took  a  decided  part  in  support  of  government,  accepted  of  his  seat  in  Council,  and 
afterwards  thy  Presidency,  long  before  the  sense  of  the  people  wa^  expressed  by 
the  fabricated  instr/uctions  to  the  members  of  Assembly,  requiring  them  to  rescind 
the  resolution  for  calling  a  convention  for  the  purpose  of  revising  the  constitution. 
And  yet  he  says,  in  the  27th  page  of  his  pamphlet,  he  "  so  effectually  vindicated 
every  part  of  his  conduct,  that  every  gentleman  present,  (myself  excepted,)  ac 
knowledged  his  mistake." 

These  were  the  ostensible  reasons  for  not  accepting  the  Chief  Justiceship,  and 
taking  the  oath  of  office;  but  an  oath  of  another  kind,  no  doubt,  induced  him  to 
decline  this  appointment.  He  had  not  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  which  the 
law,  (passed  the  13th  June,  1777,)  required  of  every  male  white  inhabitant;  nor 
did  he  take  it,  (as  appears  by  the  publication  signed  Sidney,  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Journal,  No.  1565,  12th  February,  1783,)  till  the  9th  ot  October,  1778,  which 
which  was  the  very  day  he  was  elected  a  Councillor  for  the  County  of  Philadel 
phia.  And  though  d^frarichised  of  all  the  rights  of  citizenship,  and  incapable  of 
being  elected  into,  or  serving  in  any  office,  place,  or  trust,  in  this  commonwealth, 
Mr.  Reed  dared  to  disregard  the  voice  of  the  people,  and  violate  the  law,  by  ac 
cepting  the  Presidency,  and  exercising  the  powers  of  government  annexed  to  that 
office.  If  he  had  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance,  agreeable  to  law,  why  did  he  take 
it  again,  on  the  day  he  was  elected  a  councillor  1  as  the  mere  oath  of  office  only, 
upon  that  occasion,  would  have  been  required  of  him. 

As  Mr.  Reed  has  not  touched  this  point  in  his  pamphlet,  or  furnished  his 
friends  with  a  single  argument  to  defend  him,  against  a  charge  supported  by  au- 

*    By  the  " dispensation  from  this  engagement"  above  mentioned,  is  meant, 
that  the  oath  prescribed  by  the  constitution  was  dispensed  -with,  and  many  mern- 
of  Jlfssembhf  lovre  permitted  to  take  another  oath,  in  which  they  teere  not 
to  support  the  constitution. 


33 

the  City ;  and  being  chosen  in  both  instances,  you  hesitated  above  six  week?, 
(though  often  pressed  to  a  resolution,)  before  you  determined  to  accept 
your  seat  in  Council  ; — depriving  during  this  time,  the  City  of  a  vote  in 
Assembly,  while  an  important  point  was  debated  concerning  the  contested 
Chester  election  ;  and  voluntarily  advocating  the  question  in  favor  of  the 
constitutional  party;  that  on  the  fate  of  this  trial  depended  your  hopes  of 
succeeding  to  the  President's  chair  ;  that  a  determination  in  favor  of  that 
party  gave  them  a  decided  majority,  and  that  you  instantly  accepted  your 
seat  in  council. — To  which  you  replied,  and  in  recapitulating  my  argu 
ments,  endeavoured  to  justify  your  conduct  ;  bnt  conscious  of  having  failed 
in  the  capital  points,  you  closed  your  remarks  with  some  warm  expressions, 
which  conveyed  the  idea  of  a  threat ;  of  which  I  desired  an  explanation. 
After  working  up  your  passions  to  a  degree  little  short  of  frenzy,  you  ex 
pressed  yourself  in  the  following  terms :  I  mean  this, — "  If  the  publications 
traducing  my  public  and  private  character  are  continued.  I  mean  to  apply 
io  the  law  ;  but  if  this  will  not  do  me  that  justice,  which  in  some  instances 
it  cannot  do, — I  know  I  have  the  affections  and  command  of  the  fighting 
men  of  this  state  ;  and  if  necessary,  I  will  make  use  of  that  influence,  and 
call  forth  that  force, — and  if  bloodshed  should  be  the  consequence  be  it  on 
your  own  heads." 

Such  violent  and  unwarrantable  expressions  from  the  first  magistrate  of 
the  state,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  bench  of  justices,  created  the 
highest  indignation,  and  were  severely  reprobated  by  several  gentleman 
present ;  which  induced  you  afterwards  to  endeavour  to  soften  your  expres 
sions  and  meaning. 

But  if  it  was  singular  or  absurd,  "  to  expect  a  President  of  the  State  to 
enter  into  the  violence  of  party  on  my  side  of  the  question,"  let  me  oppose 
to  this,  the  treachery  of  your  conduct  in  deserting  the  party  to  which  you 
was  at  first  from  ("  conscientious"  principles)  attached,  and  yet,  as  Presi 
dent,  enter  into  all  the  violence  of  party  on  the  other  side  of  the  question. 

Again,  "  upon  our  return  to  Philadelphia,"  you  say,  "  I  became  the  open 
and  avowed  patron  of  those  who  are  distinguished  by  the  appellation  of 
tories  ;  and  my  decisive  attachment  to  the  British  Army,*  and  their  adhe 
rents,  "  has  marked  every  subsequent  period  of  my  life,  too  plainly  to  admit 

thentic  proofs  from  public  records,  the  public  have  very  justly  pronounced  him 
guilty.  If  certificates  can  be  produced  of  his  oaths  of  abjuration  and  allegiance, 
agreeable  to  law,  why  have  they  not  been  published  1  If  he  is  not  disfranchised 
of  the  rights  of  citizenship,  why  was  his  vote  refused  at  the  last  election  1  or  is 
this  one  of  the  subjects  reserved  for  "  legal  examination  ?"  and  if  so,  why  does 
he  not  suspend  the  public  opinion  by  such  information  1 

*  That  this  opinion  was  not  entertained  by  Congress,  may  reasonably  be  in 
ferred  from  the  following  letter : 

Philadelphia,  \Zth  September,  1778. 

"Sin, — His  excellency,  General  Washington,  having  recommended  to  Con 
gress  the  appointment  of  a  General  of  horse,  the  house  took  that  subject  under 
consideration  the  10th  instant,  when  you  were  unanimously  elected  Brigadier 
and  commander  of  the  cavalry  in  the  service  of  the  United  States. 

"  From  the  general  view  above  mentioned,  you  will  perceive,  sir,  the  earnest 
desire  of  the  house,  -ttiat  you  will  accept  a  commission,  and  enter,  as  early  as 


34 

of  doubt  or  denial/'  -If you  really  entertained  such  sentiments,  why  did  you, 
in  the  month  of  February,  (after  rny  marriage,)  waiving1  the  indignity  of 
fered  to  you  in  not  paying1  the  usual  compliments  of  congratulation,  upon 
your  appointment,  pay  mo  the  first  visit,  and  thereby  make  advances  to 
wards  a  reconciliation?  Such  a  condescension,  so  contrary  to  the  usual 
forms,  can  scarcely  be  reconciled  even  to  a  character  like  yours. 

Men  who  acquire  popularity  by  means  disgraceful  to  a  gentleman,  dare 
not  hazard  a  sentiment  that  is  not  approved  by  the  party  with  which  he  i> 
connected.  I  have,  on  all  occasions,  and  in  all  companies,  private  and 
public,  delivered  freely  my  political  opinions  ;  nor  has  the  dread  of  losing 
t.he  little  popularity  I  possessed  in  Pennsylvania,  ever  induced  me  to  make 
a  sacrifice  of  rny  honor,  by  adopting  opinions  or  measures  which  I  disap 
proved,  or  thought  injurious  to  my  country.  Esteeming  it  the  highest 
honor  to  deserve  the  approbation  of  my  fellow-citizens,  1  have  ever  been 
solicitous  to  obtain  it.  You  and  some  others  have  industriously  propagated 
reports  for  the  purpose  of  injuring  my  reputation ;  but  conscious  that  my 
political  opinions  and  conduct  will  stand  the  test,  upon  the  nicest  scrutiny, 
and  having  never  experienced  any  diminution  of  that  esteem,  respect  and 
warmth  of  friendship,  which  my  fellow-citizens  have  ever  shown  towards 
me,  a  refutation  of  such  calumny  is  utterly  needless. 

From  the  whole  of  what  I  have  here  laid  before  the  public,  supported 
by  the  testimony  of  the  most  respectable  witnesses,  the  following  conclu 
sions  may  fairly  be  deduced  : 

1.  That  the  conversation  alluded   to,  which  I  have  asserted   to  have 
passed  between  us  at  Bristol,  was  mentioned  by  me  in  confidence  to  Col. 
Hamilton  and  some  others  of  General  Washington's  family,  in  the  year 
1777 ;  and  therefore  could   not  have  originated  at  the  time  you  mention, 
or  to  gratify  my  resentment  against  you,  as  at  that  time,  you  acknowledge, 
uo  parties  subsisted. 

2.  It  could  not  have  been  invented  to  gratify  iny  resentment  for  the  at- 

vour  convenience  will  admit  of,  upon  the  duties  of  tliR  office  ;  and  I  Hatter  myself 
with  hopes  of  congratulating  you  in  a  few  days  upon  this  occasion. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  wtlh  particular  regard  and  esteem,  sir,  your  most 
humble  servant,  HENRY  LAURENS, 

The  Hon.  Brigadier-General  Cadwalader.  President  of  Congress. 

But  not  wishing  to  have  it  suggested,  that  I  entered  into  the  service  at  so  late 
a  period  of  the  war  for  the  sake  of  rank,  as  the  French  treaty  had  taken,  place, 
and  I  had  conceived  all  offensive  operations  at  an  end,  I  declined  the  appoint 
ment  in  these  terms. 

Maryland,  19//<  September,  1778. 

SIN,— I  have  the  highest  sense  of  the  honor  conferred  upon  me  by  Congress, 
in  appointing  me  a  Brigadier  in  the  Continental  service,  with  the  command  of 
the  cavalry,  more  particularly  as  the  voice  of  Congress  was  unanimous. 

I  cannot  consent  to  enter  into  the  service  at  this  time,  as  the  war  appears  to 
me  to  lie  near  the  closr.  But  should  any  misfortune  give  an  unhappy  turn  to  our 
affairs,  I  shall  immediately  apply  to  Congress  for  a  command  in  the  army. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  the  greatest  regard  and  esteem,  your  excellency's 
moat  obedient  bumble  servant,  JOHN  CADWALADER. 

His  Excellency  Henry  Laureiw,  Esq.  President  of  Congress. 


35 

tf:mpt  you  made  to  evade  the  payment  of  Mr.  Porter's  order;  because  1 
did  not  make  it  public  at  the  time,  nor  till  several  years  afterwards,  and 
you  acknowledge,  all  that  coolness  was  done  away,  and  our  former  habits 
of  friendship  restored. 

As  it  appears,  by  Mr.  Clymer's  testimony,  that  I  mentioned  it  publicly 
at  Mr.  Hamilton's  "trial,  which  was  before  you  were  elected  President  of 
the  state,  it  ought  to  be  imputed  to  another  cause  than  that  which  you 
have  assigned. 

4.  As  it  appears,  from  Mr.  Pryor's  testimony,  that  I  mentioned  it  at  the 
Coffee  House,  in  the  hearing  of  some  of  your  friends,  we  may  reasonably 
conclude  you  were  informed  of  it ;  and  this  conclusion  is  strengthened  by 
your  passing  over  unnoticed,  the  information  contained  in  Major  Lennox's 
testimony,  which  was  related  to  you  by  Major  Thomas  Moore. 

5  It  cannot  appear  improbable  that  you  should  have  held  this  conversa- 
tibn  with  me,  as  your  expressions  to  Gen.  Dickinson,  Col.  Nixon,  and 
Doctor  Rush,  convey  sentiments  equally  injurious  to  your  reputation  as  a 
patriot  and  Adjutant  General  of  the  army. 

ft.  As  it  fully  appears,  by  the  testimony  of  Col.  Ellis  and  Mr.  Davenport, 
and  that  of  Col.  Bradford,  that  you  had  communicated  such  sentiments  to 
your  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Pettit,  and  to  Col.  Bayard,  contrary  to  your  de 
claration,  we  may  with  propriety  assert,  that  you  have  forfeited  that  vera 
city,  which  is  essential  to  (he  character  of  a  gentleman. 

Lastly,  from  the  testimony  of  Major  Lennox  and  Col.  Nichols,  it  ap 
pears  that  you  absolutely  applied  to  Count  Donop  for  protection,  and  that 
a  particular  and  intimate  friend  of  yours  was  included  in  it ;  and,  there 
fore,  from  this  and  the  foregoing  testimony,  all  pointing  to  the  same  object 
and  to  the  same  period,  supporting  and  confirming  each  other,  it  cannot 
leave  the  least  room  to  doubt  the  truth  of  my  assertion. 

In  some  instances,  a  man's  general  good  conduct  has  had  great  weight 
to  invalidate  or  weaken  charges  highly  criminal;  but  unfortunately, yours 
can  receive  no  aid  from  such  circumstances.  Dissimulation  and  cunning 
have  for  a  timo  deceived  the  most  discerning,  but  the  snares  you  have 
laid  for  others  will  most  probably  accomplish  your  own  destruction. 

Having  long  since  known  how  to  estimate  your  character,  I  have  not 
any  where  pretended,  in  this  performance,  to  fix  it  at  a  higher  value  than 
what  it  generally  passes  current  for ;  you  have,  since  the  term  of  your 
administration,  repeatedly  put  yourself  upon  your  country.  Your  name 
has  been  offered  to  the  people  for  a  seat  in  the  legislature  ;  to  the  legis 
lature,  for  a  seat  in  Congress;  to  Congress,  for  pests  of  Continental  trust; 
but  that  name,  its  counterfeit  gilding  at  length  rubbed  off,  and  the  native 
colour  of  the  contexture  exposed,  has  depreciated,  like  the  Continental 
money,  with  such  velocity,  that  though  a  few  years  ago  worth  a  Presi 
dent's  chair,  it  would  not,  now,  purchase  a  constable's  staff;  nor  is  it  more 
highly  rated  in  the  sphere  of  polite  life,  than  in  the  great  theatre  of  the 
world ;  for  its  unfortunate  owner  stands  alone,  unnoticed  in  the  midst  of 
company,  with  full  leisure  to  reflect  on  the  sensible  effects  of  the  loss  of 
reputation. 

My  immediate  purpose  requires  nothing  further  from  me ;  but  your  ad 
ministration,  the  'theme  of  your  own  solitary  praise,  might  not  improperly 
have  been  touched  upon,  but  that  it  is  a  field  too  extensive  for  me,  and 


36 

that  I  have  not  asperity  enough  in  my  nature  to  do  justice  to  the  subject. 
J  will  yet  observe,  upon  some  matters  in  your  pamphlet,  not  in  direct  con 
nexion  with  one  or  the  other  subject;  but  which  are  extremely  demon 
strative  of  a  temper  in  the  writer  to  wish  evil  to  the  community,  after  the 
power  of  doing  it  has  ceased. 

You,  who  have  ever  been  a  rapacious  lawyer,  and  have  never  omitted 
any  means  of  amassing  a  fortune,  have,  with  a  truly  consistent  spirit,  shown 
an  implacable  enmity  to  all  those  who  are  raised  to  a  condition  above  want 
and  dependence.  And  though  you  kick  against  the  parallel  drawn  be 
tween  you  and  the  Cataline  of  antiquity,  you  have  in  this  point  proved  its 
exactness  ;  he  haranguing  in  the  circle  of  his  conspirators,  exasperates 
them  against  the  opulent  citizens  of  Rome  ;  you,  in  your  pamphlet,  labor 
to  create  invidious  distinctions,  would  pervert  the  order  of  well  regulated 
society,  and  make  fortune's  larger  gifts,  or  even  its  moderate  blessings,  cri- 
ferions  of  disqualification  for  public  trust  and  honors  in  Pennsylvania  ;  and 
under  a  specious  description  of  men,  offer  with  your  sword  to  lead  the  indi 
gent,  the  bankrupt,  and  the  desperate,  into  all  the  authority  of  government. 
But  in  the  shallowness  of  your  understanding,  you  have  mistaken  the  spirit 
of  the  times;  it  will  not  countenance  or  support  a  Cataline. 

Yon  would  also,  no  doubt,  as  may  be  inferred  from  your  pamphlet,  you, 
who  are  so  deficient  in  morality,  draw  your  sword  in  religious  quarrels,  to 
bring  you  once  more  into  play  ;  but  'tis  to  no  purpose  you  would  raise  an 
alarm,  as  a  very  great  and  respectable  part  of  your  opponents  consists  ot 
persons  belonging  to  that  society,  of  which  you  profess  yourself  to  be  a 
member  ;  and  there  is  a  general  and  commendable  coolness  and  indiffer- 
once  for  such  quarrels,  that  will  not  easily  take  fire  on  your  false  and  in 
flammatory  suggestions  ;  so  that  whatever  you  have  catched  at  to  raise  you 
from  the  earth,  has  broke  in  your  hands  and  brought,  you  again  to  the 
oTound. 

JOHN  CADWALADER. 


ol  YSf:o 
nrto'h-: 
:iot  Ji 


[«ffl»flitri(»r>  oil;  ',/lu   .likjitj:)-  rjq-.fi  nijii  ,I)>'.-( 

-i^oi1!  «  iit'.'iv/  0^;;  VIR--.Y  v/ot   ,«   il^iioilj  J;;i 

j'ftBJrj  R'oWnJahao  J3  rj-r.itibtfM{  t  '«'•)«  ,toit  Mnov/  U  ,-ti^Jj 
,h5^-iB_  .hi;  :tr  nsu{?  .  Jh'I  Olilo    1o  -yiodH  oil!  id  b^tra 


to  g--4<;[  arfj  'lo  aJoyfia  oliji8/io«  oili  fio  1>:  fi  rt  o)  o-iiJii-ji  Uut  lUiv/  /{'ir:q 


imf  ;om  fuml  ioiflii/1  :>ni<U;6tt«aii;'jpoi  ^oqwi<{  yjjjftoainu 
jo-i  idigira  ,95ic«{  v-Ddiioa  nwo  iuo-{Vj  oaieu'j  Vnil-  .noihn 
b(is  t-)ra  TJ1  •r/iane.Jxo  o<^j  blah  /?  &i  ji.JaiU  JuJ  ,n.o<{u  h-' 


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